Trexquant Investment LP Raises Holdings in TransAlta Corporation $TAC

Key Points

• Trexquant Investment LP increased its holdings in TransAlta Corporation (NYSE: TAC) by 301.4%, acquiring an additional 265,597 shares, bringing its total to 353,732 shares valued at approximately $3.3 million.
• Recent institutional investment activity shows other firms, such as Bank of America and Invesco, also significantly increased their stakes in TransAlta, indicating heightened interest among major investors.
• TransAlta announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.065 per share, representing an annualized yield of 2.1%, up from its previous dividend of $0.05, with the dividend payout ratio currently at -45.24%.

Trexquant Investment LP raised its position in shares of TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA by 301.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 353,732 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 265,597 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP owned approximately 0.12% of TransAlta worth $3,307,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of TAC. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its position in TransAlta by 145,600.0% during the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,914 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 2,912 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in TransAlta by 48,666.7% in the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 4,389 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 4,380 shares in the last quarter. Tobam lifted its position in TransAlta by 239.2% in the 1st quarter. Tobam now owns 10,943 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $102,000 after acquiring an additional 7,717 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in TransAlta in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $119,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in TransAlta by 64.9% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 17,525 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $164,000 after acquiring an additional 6,900 shares in the last quarter. 59.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

TransAlta Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TAC traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $12.33. The company had a trading volume of 65,484 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,529,839. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.98, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $3.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.35 and a beta of 0.78. TransAlta Corporation has a 12-month low of $7.82 and a 12-month high of $14.64. The company has a fifty day moving average of $11.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.40.

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

TransAlta Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

TAC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised TransAlta from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of TransAlta from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $16.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Friday, July 18th. TD Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $20.00 target price (up from $19.00) on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of TransAlta from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 14th. Finally, National Bankshares reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $19.88.

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.