Aigen Investment Management LP Takes Position in TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC)

Key Points

• Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in TransAlta Corporation, purchasing 62,823 shares valued at approximately $587,000.
• TransAlta recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.065 per share, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders.
• Analysts have generally given TransAlta stock a rating of "Moderate Buy", with an average price target of $19.88, indicating a positive outlook on its performance.

Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new stake in TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 62,823 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $587,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of TransAlta by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,291,968 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $96,055,000 after buying an additional 62,145 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in TransAlta by 79.7% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,255,923 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $116,764,000 after purchasing an additional 3,662,900 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of TransAlta by 280.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,385,966 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $76,211,000 after acquiring an additional 3,969,037 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in TransAlta by 0.7% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 5,049,100 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $47,119,000 after purchasing an additional 33,676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Potrero Capital Research LLC boosted its stake in TransAlta by 373.2% in the fourth quarter. Potrero Capital Research LLC now owns 2,323,944 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $32,884,000 after acquiring an additional 1,832,803 shares during the period. 59.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $20.00 price target (up previously from $19.00) on shares of TransAlta in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of TransAlta from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. National Bankshares reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Scotiabank raised shares of TransAlta from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $16.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of TransAlta from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $19.88.

TransAlta Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of TransAlta stock traded down $0.14 during trading on Friday, reaching $12.36. 750,542 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,345,224. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.98, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $11.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.26. TransAlta Corporation has a 1-year low of $7.82 and a 1-year high of $14.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.66 billion, a PE ratio of -29.43 and a beta of 0.75.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last released its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $451.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $473.94 million. TransAlta had a negative net margin of 6.79% and a negative return on equity of 2.06%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The company 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 positive change 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 presently -45.24%.

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.