Mackenzie Financial Corp Decreases Stake in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC)

Mackenzie Financial Corp reduced its position in shares of TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA by 16.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,015,424 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 1,010,977 shares during the quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned 1.69% of TransAlta worth $70,857,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tobam purchased a new position in shares of TransAlta in the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,000. Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of TransAlta during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $145,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of TransAlta during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $147,000. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in TransAlta in the fourth quarter worth $150,000. Finally, Sage Investment Counsel LLC bought a new stake in TransAlta in the fourth quarter worth $156,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of TransAlta from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. CIBC raised shares of TransAlta from a "neutral" rating to an "outperformer" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $23.00 to $19.50 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of TransAlta from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of 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, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $19.75.

TransAlta Stock Down 0.6%

TAC traded down $0.06 during trading on Friday, hitting $9.61. The stock had a trading volume of 215,604 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,175,023. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.77. The company has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a PE ratio of 23.43 and a beta of 0.71. TransAlta Co. has a twelve month low of $6.78 and a twelve month 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 posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $526.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $509.31 million. TransAlta had a return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 6.38%. On average, research analysts predict that TransAlta Co. will post 0.41 earnings per share 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.