TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) Stock Price Up 4.6%

TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) shares rose 4.6% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $7.28 and last traded at $7.28. Approximately 391,475 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 47% from the average daily volume of 736,667 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.96.

TransAlta Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $7.10 and a 200 day moving average of $6.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.95. The firm has a market cap of $2.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 0.89.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.40. TransAlta had a return on equity of 45.47% and a net margin of 18.70%. The company had revenue of $702.47 million during the quarter. Equities research analysts predict that TransAlta Co. will post 0.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TransAlta

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of TransAlta by 25.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,498,451 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $87,242,000 after purchasing an additional 2,116,907 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in TransAlta by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 6,370,416 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $53,007,000 after acquiring an additional 149,378 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in TransAlta by 93.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 1,525,761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,688,000 after acquiring an additional 738,338 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in TransAlta during the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,779,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in TransAlta by 71.9% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 643,988 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,131,000 after acquiring an additional 269,444 shares during the last quarter. 59.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About TransAlta

TransAlta Corporation engages in the development, production, and sale of electric energy. It operates through Hydro, Wind and Solar, Gas, Energy Transition, and Energy Marketing segments. The Hydro segment holds interest of approximately 922 megawatts (MW) of owned hydroelectric generating capacity located in Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario.