Allianz Asset Management GmbH Acquires Shares of 421,968 TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC)

Allianz Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 421,968 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,937,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH owned 0.14% of TransAlta at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bessemer Group Inc. bought a new position in TransAlta in the first quarter valued at approximately $638,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in TransAlta by 20,398.6% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 191,047 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,703,000 after purchasing an additional 190,115 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new stake in TransAlta during the 4th quarter worth approximately $346,000. NBC Securities Inc. raised its holdings in TransAlta by 145,600.0% in the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,914 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 2,912 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sowell Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in TransAlta by 55.3% in the 1st quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 22,533 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $211,000 after acquiring an additional 8,019 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.00% of the company's stock.

TransAlta Price Performance

Shares of TAC stock traded up $0.49 on Friday, reaching $12.54. The company's stock had a trading volume of 525,025 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,595,031. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.19. TransAlta Corporation has a 12-month low of $7.40 and a 12-month high of $14.64. The company has a market capitalization of $3.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -625.49 and a beta of 0.76. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $11.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.33.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.02). TransAlta had a net margin of 0.01% and a negative return on equity of 1.64%. The firm had revenue of $526.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $509.31 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 1st will be paid a $0.065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This is a boost from TransAlta's previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. TransAlta's payout ratio is -950.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TAC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased 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. Scotiabank raised TransAlta from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $16.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised TransAlta from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised TransAlta from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, TransAlta has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $19.83.

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.