Parallax Volatility Advisers L.P. Acquires New Position in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC)

Parallax Volatility Advisers L.P. bought a new position in shares of TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 47,450 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $671,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in TAC. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in TransAlta by 281.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 143,062 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,482,000 after buying an additional 105,562 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 2.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 122,621 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,277,000 after purchasing an additional 2,524 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of TransAlta by 190.6% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 147,669 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,550,000 after acquiring an additional 96,856 shares during the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP acquired a new position in shares of TransAlta in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,139,000. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new position in TransAlta in the fourth quarter valued at $145,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on TAC. StockNews.com downgraded shares of TransAlta from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of TransAlta from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of TransAlta in a report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Scotiabank cut TransAlta from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, CIBC raised shares of TransAlta from a "neutral" rating to an "outperformer" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $23.00 to $19.50 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, TransAlta has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $19.50.

TransAlta Stock Performance

Shares of TAC stock traded up $0.17 during trading on Friday, reaching $9.22. 113,238 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,144,009. The firm's 50-day moving average is $9.23 and its 200 day moving average is $10.94. TransAlta Co. has a 1 year low of $6.68 and a 1 year high of $14.64. The company has a market capitalization of $2.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.48 and a beta of 0.72. 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 results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported ($0.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.12 by ($0.28). The firm had revenue of $484.60 million during the quarter. TransAlta had a return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 6.38%. Equities research analysts expect that TransAlta Co. will post 0.41 EPS for the current year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.0458 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. This is a positive change from TransAlta's previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. TransAlta's dividend payout ratio is currently 43.90%.

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.