Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Increases Position in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC)

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA by 65.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 82,850 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 32,850 shares during the quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.'s holdings in TransAlta were worth $1,172,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of TAC. Potrero Capital Research LLC lifted its holdings 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 last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of TransAlta during the 4th quarter worth $428,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC acquired a new stake in shares of TransAlta during the 4th quarter worth about $1,472,000. Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in TransAlta by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 73,063 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,034,000 after buying an additional 13,112 shares during the period. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main acquired a new position in TransAlta in the fourth quarter valued at about $167,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.00% of the company's stock.

TransAlta Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE TAC traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $8.89. The company had a trading volume of 119,352 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,154,827. The company has a market capitalization of $2.63 billion, a PE ratio of 21.67 and a beta of 0.71. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $8.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.80. TransAlta Co. has a 1-year low of $6.78 and a 1-year high of $14.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $526.69 million for 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, analysts predict that TransAlta Co. will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank lowered shares of TransAlta from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. 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. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on TransAlta in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Wall Street Zen cut TransAlta from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Cibc World Mkts raised 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, TransAlta presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $19.75.

TransAlta 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.