Aventail Capital Group LP Makes New $38.63 Million Investment in TransAlta Corporation $TAC

Aventail Capital Group LP acquired a new position in TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,829,643 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $38,633,000. TransAlta makes up approximately 1.8% of Aventail Capital Group LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rubric Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of TransAlta by 32.9% during the 2nd quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 15,948,451 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $172,084,000 after buying an additional 3,948,451 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in TransAlta in the 3rd quarter worth $36,395,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new stake in TransAlta in the 3rd quarter worth $20,533,000. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in TransAlta by 15.1% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 10,425,309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $142,373,000 after acquiring an additional 1,369,830 shares during the period. Finally, Man Group plc purchased a new position in shares of TransAlta in the third quarter valued at about $11,034,000. 59.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

TransAlta Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of TransAlta stock opened at $12.45 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.48 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $12.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.83. 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 $7.82 and a twelve month high of $17.88.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $436.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $493.39 million. TransAlta had a positive return on equity of 10.00% and a negative net margin of 7.51%. Equities research analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This is a positive change from TransAlta’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio is presently -40.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Zacks Research upgraded TransAlta from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Finally, National Bank Financial lowered shares of TransAlta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.00.

TransAlta Profile

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.