Tidal Investments LLC Makes New $497,000 Investment in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC)

Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new position in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 35,134 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $497,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in shares of TransAlta by 1,096.2% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 259,257 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,668,000 after purchasing an additional 237,584 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of TransAlta by 56.5% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 28,275 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 10,211 shares during the period. Tobam purchased a new position in shares of TransAlta in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Louisbourg Investments Inc. purchased a new position in shares of TransAlta in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,439,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of TransAlta by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 79,957 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,131,000 after purchasing an additional 5,593 shares during the period. 59.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

TransAlta Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE:TAC traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $9.77. 1,941,002 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,183,831. The business's 50-day moving average price is $8.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.83 and a beta of 0.71. TransAlta Co. has a 1 year low of $6.78 and a 1 year high of $14.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $509.31 million. TransAlta had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 18.47%. Analysts predict that TransAlta Co. will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

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.