Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC Grows Position in TransAlta Corporation $TAC

Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC boosted its position in TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) by 17.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 745,013 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 111,426 shares during the quarter. Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC’s holdings in TransAlta were worth $10,174,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in TransAlta during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $176,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its position in shares of TransAlta by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 34,051 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $464,000 after purchasing an additional 1,827 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd lifted its position in shares of TransAlta by 253.4% during the 3rd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 79,137 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,082,000 after purchasing an additional 56,744 shares during the last quarter. Westerly Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of TransAlta by 17.3% during the third quarter. Westerly Capital Management LLC now owns 900,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,303,000 after purchasing an additional 132,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wexford Capital LP grew its stake in shares of TransAlta by 73.7% during the third quarter. Wexford Capital LP now owns 80,867 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,104,000 after purchasing an additional 34,318 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

TransAlta Stock Performance

Shares of TAC stock opened at $12.47 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $12.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.54, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.73. TransAlta Corporation has a 1 year low of $7.82 and a 1 year high of $17.88. The firm has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.52 and a beta of 0.77.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last posted its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $436.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $493.39 million. TransAlta had a negative net margin of 7.51% and a positive return on equity of 10.00%. Analysts predict that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current 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 is an increase from TransAlta’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -40.43%.

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.