Quantbot Technologies LP Makes New $571,000 Investment in TransAlta Corporation $TAC

Key Points

• Quantbot Technologies LP has acquired 61,026 shares of TransAlta Corporation worth approximately $571,000, as reported in its recent SEC filing.
• TransAlta announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.05 to $0.065, signaling potential positive growth for the company.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Buy" for TransAlta stock, with a target price set at $19.88, reflecting optimism about its future performance.

Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 61,026 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $571,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. NBC Securities Inc. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 2,912 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 69,004 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $976,000 after acquiring an additional 3,499 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 126,761 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,811,000 after acquiring an additional 4,140 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 48,666.7% during the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 4,389 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 4,380 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 147,703 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,090,000 after acquiring an additional 4,641 shares during the period. 59.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank raised shares of TransAlta from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $16.00 to $20.00 in a report on Friday, July 18th. TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $20.00 price objective (up from $19.00) on shares of TransAlta in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of TransAlta from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of TransAlta from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of TransAlta from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, TransAlta presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $19.88.

TransAlta Price Performance

TAC stock traded down $0.32 during trading on Friday, hitting $12.30. 2,151,968 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,214,774. TransAlta Corporation has a one year low of $7.82 and a one year high of $14.64. The stock has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.27 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.98.

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

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. This is an increase from TransAlta's previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. TransAlta's payout ratio is -45.24%.

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.