Cibc World Market Inc. Acquires Shares of 2,300,636 TransAlta Corporation $TAC

Cibc World Market Inc. acquired a new stake in TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,300,636 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $31,799,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of TAC. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in TransAlta by 27.8% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 208,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,954,000 after purchasing an additional 45,478 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in TransAlta by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 152,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,660,000 after purchasing an additional 5,214 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in TransAlta by 18.9% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,075,171 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,601,000 after purchasing an additional 170,829 shares during the last quarter. Westerly Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in TransAlta in the second quarter valued at $8,281,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in TransAlta by 418.8% in the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 295,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,186,000 after purchasing an additional 238,422 shares during the period. 59.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

TransAlta Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of TransAlta stock opened at $12.22 on Monday. TransAlta Corporation has a one year low of $11.38 and a one year high of $17.88. The company has a market cap of $3.86 billion, a P/E ratio of -67.89 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.64, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $13.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $13.15.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.02. TransAlta had a negative net margin of 2.76% and a positive return on equity of 8.85%. The business had revenue of $342.85 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $379.54 million. On average, analysts forecast that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current year.

TransAlta Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. TransAlta’s payout ratio is presently -111.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on TAC shares. Scotiabank upgraded shares of TransAlta to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Zacks Research raised TransAlta from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Weiss Ratings cut TransAlta from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Friday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.50.

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.