Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Has $1.17 Million Position in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC)

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA by 65.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 82,850 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 32,850 shares during the period. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.'s holdings in TransAlta were worth $1,171,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of TransAlta by 638.9% in the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 7,995,489 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $112,936,000 after acquiring an additional 6,913,431 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new stake in TransAlta during the 4th quarter worth approximately $67,038,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in TransAlta by 512.0% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,870,226 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $68,880,000 after purchasing an additional 4,074,395 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in TransAlta by 280.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,385,966 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $76,211,000 after purchasing an additional 3,969,037 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in TransAlta by 79.7% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,255,923 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $116,764,000 after purchasing an additional 3,662,900 shares in the last quarter. 59.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

TransAlta Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE TAC traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $9.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,941,002 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,185,712. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $6.78 and a fifty-two week high of $14.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.83 and a beta of 0.71. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.77.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last issued its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $526.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $509.31 million. TransAlta had a return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 6.38%. Equities research analysts predict that TransAlta Co. will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

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.