JPMorgan Chase & Co. Purchases 83,414 Shares of TransAlta Corporation $TAC

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) by 493.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 100,317 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 83,414 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in TransAlta were worth $1,371,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new position in TransAlta during the 3rd quarter worth $189,000. Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC increased its stake in TransAlta by 17.6% during the 3rd quarter. Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC now owns 745,013 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,174,000 after acquiring an additional 111,426 shares during the period. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of TransAlta in the 3rd quarter valued at $176,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its stake in shares of TransAlta by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 34,051 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $464,000 after purchasing an additional 1,827 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd increased its stake in shares of TransAlta by 253.4% in the 3rd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 79,137 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,082,000 after purchasing an additional 56,744 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

TransAlta Trading Up 2.0%

NYSE TAC opened at $13.81 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.54. TransAlta Corporation has a twelve month low of $7.94 and a twelve month high of $17.88. The company has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.37 and a beta of 0.76. The business’s fifty day moving average is $13.06 and its 200 day moving average is $13.87.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.09). TransAlta had a negative net margin of 7.51% and a positive return on equity of 10.00%. The firm had revenue of $436.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $493.39 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. This is a positive change from TransAlta’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -40.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $24.00 price target on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, National Bank Financial upgraded TransAlta from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.33.

About TransAlta

TransAlta Corporation, originally founded in 1909 as Calgary Power Company Ltd., is a publicly traded energy company specializing in the development, ownership and operation of power generation and transmission assets. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, TransAlta has grown from its early hydroelectric roots into a diversified energy provider with a multi-fuel generating fleet.

The company’s core business activities encompass power generation, asset management and energy trading services.