Nomura Holdings Inc. Invests $428,000 in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC)

Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 30,280 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $428,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of TAC. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 638.9% in the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 7,995,489 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $112,936,000 after purchasing an additional 6,913,431 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the 4th quarter worth approximately $67,038,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 512.0% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,870,226 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $68,880,000 after purchasing an additional 4,074,395 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 280.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,385,966 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $76,211,000 after purchasing an additional 3,969,037 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 79.7% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,255,923 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $116,764,000 after purchasing an additional 3,662,900 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 59.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on TAC shares. CIBC raised shares of TransAlta from a "neutral" rating to an "outperformer" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $19.50 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of TransAlta from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of TransAlta from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of TransAlta in a report on Friday, April 11th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of TransAlta from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Four 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, TransAlta presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $19.75.

TransAlta Stock Performance

TAC stock traded up $0.29 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $9.44. 1,849,440 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,167,637. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $8.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.78. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $6.78 and a 52 week high of $14.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a PE ratio of 23.02 and a beta of 0.71.

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

TransAlta Company 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.