Walleye Capital LLC Takes Position in TransAlta Corporation $TAC

Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 61,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $844,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Rubric Capital Management LP lifted its stake in TransAlta by 32.9% in the 2nd quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 15,948,451 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $172,084,000 after purchasing an additional 3,948,451 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of TransAlta during the 4th quarter valued at $45,298,000. Sculptor Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the fourth quarter worth $37,958,000. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in TransAlta by 27.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,295,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $168,163,000 after buying an additional 2,870,026 shares during the period. Finally, Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC bought a new stake in TransAlta during the first quarter valued at $34,128,000. Institutional investors own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on TAC shares. TD Cowen assumed coverage on TransAlta in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Scotiabank raised TransAlta to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Zacks Research cut shares of TransAlta from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of TransAlta from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.50.

TransAlta Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:TAC opened at $12.80 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.05 billion, a PE ratio of -71.13 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.64, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.84. TransAlta Corporation has a 52-week low of $11.38 and a 52-week high of $17.88. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $13.34 and a 200 day moving average of $13.18.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.02. TransAlta had a positive return on equity of 8.85% and a negative net margin of 2.76%.The business had revenue of $342.85 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $379.54 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransAlta Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio is -111.11%.

TransAlta Company 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.