Squarepoint Ops LLC Acquires New Shares in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC)

Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 27,408 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $388,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tobam acquired a new position in TransAlta in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC acquired a new position in TransAlta in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $147,000. Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in TransAlta in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $150,000. Sage Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new stake in TransAlta in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $156,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main purchased a new stake in TransAlta in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $167,000. 59.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

TransAlta Stock Up 1.6%

TransAlta stock opened at $10.30 on Friday. TransAlta Co. has a twelve month low of $6.78 and a twelve month high of $14.64. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $9.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.11 and a beta of 0.71.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 6.38%. The company had revenue of $526.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $509.31 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that TransAlta Co. will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TAC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on TransAlta from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. CIBC raised TransAlta from a "neutral" rating to an "outperformer" rating and cut their target price for the company from $23.00 to $19.50 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered TransAlta from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on TransAlta in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Finally, Cibc World Mkts raised TransAlta from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, TransAlta has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $19.75.

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.

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