TransAlta Corporation $TAC Shares Sold by Intact Investment Management Inc.

Intact Investment Management Inc. lowered its holdings in TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) by 26.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 428,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 151,150 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in TransAlta were worth $5,423,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in TransAlta during the third quarter worth $36,395,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in TransAlta by 2.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,949,384 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $149,569,000 after buying an additional 248,027 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 15.1% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 10,425,309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $142,373,000 after acquiring an additional 1,369,830 shares during the period. Oaktree Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 5.4% during the third quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP now owns 6,415,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $87,648,000 after acquiring an additional 330,000 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 493.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 100,317 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,371,000 after acquiring an additional 83,414 shares during the period. 59.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on TAC shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Monday, April 20th. National Bank Financial raised TransAlta from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $24.00 price objective on shares of TransAlta in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, TransAlta has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.33.

TransAlta Stock Performance

TransAlta stock opened at $12.57 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.54. TransAlta Corporation has a 12-month low of $8.34 and a 12-month high of $17.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.75 and a beta of 0.66.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($0.09). TransAlta had a negative net margin of 7.51% and a positive return on equity of 10.00%. The business had revenue of $436.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $493.39 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from TransAlta’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -40.43%.

TransAlta Profile

TransAlta Corporation, originally founded in 1909 as Calgary Power Company Ltd., is a publicly traded energy company specializing in the development, ownership and operation of power generation and transmission assets. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, TransAlta has grown from its early hydroelectric roots into a diversified energy provider with a multi-fuel generating fleet.

The company’s core business activities encompass power generation, asset management and energy trading services.