Tacita Capital Inc Lowers Position in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC)

Tacita Capital Inc trimmed its stake in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 224,138 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 20,943 shares during the quarter. TransAlta comprises 2.3% of Tacita Capital Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Tacita Capital Inc’s holdings in TransAlta were worth $3,163,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tobam acquired a new position in TransAlta during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in TransAlta during the third quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in TransAlta during the third quarter valued at approximately $130,000. Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new position in TransAlta during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $145,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in TransAlta during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $150,000. 59.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on TAC shares. StockNews.com cut shares of TransAlta from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Scotiabank cut shares of TransAlta from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Desjardins reissued a “hold” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. CIBC raised shares of TransAlta from a “neutral” rating to an “outperformer” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $19.50 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, TransAlta has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.50.

TransAlta Trading Down 2.3 %

TAC opened at $10.10 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a PE ratio of 24.63 and a beta of 0.83. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $12.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.67. TransAlta Co. has a 12-month low of $5.94 and a 12-month high of $14.64.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last posted its quarterly 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). The company had revenue of $484.60 million during the quarter. TransAlta had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 18.47%. As a group, research analysts expect that TransAlta Co. will post 0.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Sunday, June 1st will be issued a $0.0458 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This is a boost from TransAlta’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. This represents a $0.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.02%.

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.