283,336 Shares in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) Acquired by Covalis Capital LLP

Covalis Capital LLP acquired a new stake in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 283,336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,005,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in TAC. Tobam bought a new position in TransAlta in the fourth quarter valued at about $46,000. Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of TransAlta in the 4th quarter valued at about $145,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of TransAlta during the 4th quarter worth approximately $147,000. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of TransAlta during the fourth quarter worth approximately $150,000. Finally, Sage Investment Counsel LLC acquired a new position in TransAlta in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $156,000. 59.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

TransAlta Stock Performance

Shares of TransAlta stock opened at $8.71 on Friday. TransAlta Co. has a 12 month low of $6.36 and a 12 month high of $14.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94. The company has a market capitalization of $2.60 billion, a PE ratio of 21.25 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.04.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported ($0.16) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.28). TransAlta had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 18.47%. The business had revenue of $484.60 million for the quarter. On average, research analysts predict that TransAlta Co. will post 0.41 EPS for the current year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 1st will be paid a $0.0458 dividend. This is an increase from TransAlta’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TAC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank lowered shares of TransAlta from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com cut TransAlta from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. CIBC raised TransAlta from a “neutral” rating to an “outperformer” rating and cut their target price for the company from $23.00 to $19.50 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on TransAlta in a report on Friday, April 11th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Cibc World Mkts raised TransAlta from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, TransAlta presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.50.

About TransAlta

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.