EAM Global Investors LLC Acquires Shares of 638,226 TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC)

EAM Global Investors LLC bought a new position in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 638,226 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,022,000. TransAlta accounts for about 1.6% of EAM Global Investors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. EAM Global Investors LLC owned 0.21% of TransAlta as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TAC. EAM Investors LLC bought a new position in shares of TransAlta during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,398,000. Bridgewater Associates LP bought a new position in TransAlta in the 4th quarter worth $4,352,000. Mariner LLC lifted its position in shares of TransAlta by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 74,528 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 8,250 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of TransAlta by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 147,703 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,090,000 after purchasing an additional 4,641 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of TransAlta during the fourth quarter valued at about $822,000. 59.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

TransAlta Stock Down 3.1 %

Shares of TAC stock opened at $8.49 on Wednesday. TransAlta Co. has a 12 month low of $5.94 and a 12 month high of $14.64. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.08. The stock has a market cap of $2.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.70 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported ($0.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.28). TransAlta had a return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 6.38%. The firm had revenue of $484.60 million during the quarter. On average, research analysts expect that TransAlta Co. will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Sunday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.0458 per share. This is a boost from TransAlta’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. TransAlta’s payout ratio is 43.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on TAC shares. CIBC raised TransAlta from a “neutral” rating to an “outperformer” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $19.50 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on TransAlta in a report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Scotiabank cut shares of TransAlta from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of TransAlta from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Cibc World Mkts raised shares of TransAlta from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, TransAlta currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.50.

TransAlta Profile

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.