Point72 Asset Management L.P. Grows Position in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC)

Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA by 23.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,586,911 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 300,111 shares during the quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. owned approximately 0.53% of TransAlta worth $22,423,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Tobam purchased a new stake in TransAlta in the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of TransAlta during the 4th quarter valued at $145,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of TransAlta during the 4th quarter valued at $147,000. Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of TransAlta during the 4th quarter valued at $150,000. Finally, Sage Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new stake in shares of TransAlta during the 4th quarter valued at $156,000. 59.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

TransAlta Price Performance

TAC stock opened at $9.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.74. The company has a market capitalization of $2.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.20 and a beta of 0.71. TransAlta Co. has a fifty-two week low of $6.78 and a fifty-two week high of $14.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $9.03 and a 200-day moving average of $10.84.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $526.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $509.31 million. TransAlta had a return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 6.38%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that TransAlta Co. will post 0.41 earnings per share 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 paid a $0.0458 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. This is an increase from TransAlta's previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. TransAlta's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -900.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on TransAlta in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Scotiabank lowered TransAlta from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com lowered TransAlta from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Cibc World Mkts raised TransAlta from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, CIBC upgraded TransAlta from a "neutral" rating to an "outperformer" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $19.50 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Four 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $19.75.

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.

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