Bank of America Corp DE Boosts Stake in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC)

Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA by 280.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,385,966 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,969,037 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 1.81% of TransAlta worth $76,211,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of TransAlta by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 27,627 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $391,000 after acquiring an additional 1,420 shares during the last quarter. Tobam bought a new position in TransAlta during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of TransAlta by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 126,761 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,811,000 after acquiring an additional 4,140 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of TransAlta by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 147,703 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,090,000 after acquiring an additional 4,641 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its position in shares of TransAlta by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 73,942 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,041,000 after acquiring an additional 5,168 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 59.00% of the company's stock.

TransAlta Trading Up 2.7%

TAC opened at $8.90 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.70 and a beta of 0.71. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $9.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.88. TransAlta Co. has a one year low of $6.78 and a one year high of $14.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.74.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.02). TransAlta had a return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 6.38%. The firm had revenue of $526.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $509.31 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that TransAlta Co. will post 0.41 EPS for the current year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $0.0458 per share. This represents a $0.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This is a boost from TransAlta's previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. TransAlta's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -900.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on TAC. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on TransAlta from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded TransAlta from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com downgraded TransAlta from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on TransAlta in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Finally, CIBC raised 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 report on Tuesday, February 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, TransAlta has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $19.75.

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.

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