Sculptor Capital LP Acquires Shares of 3,000,000 TransAlta Corporation $TAC

Sculptor Capital LP acquired a new stake in TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 3,000,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $37,958,000. Sculptor Capital LP owned approximately 1.01% of TransAlta at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of TransAlta by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,949,384 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $149,569,000 after purchasing an additional 248,027 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of TransAlta by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 10,425,309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $142,373,000 after purchasing an additional 1,369,830 shares during the last quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of TransAlta by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP now owns 6,415,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $87,648,000 after purchasing an additional 330,000 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of TransAlta by 493.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 100,317 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,371,000 after purchasing an additional 83,414 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aventail Capital Group LP bought a new position in shares of TransAlta in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,633,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

TransAlta Stock Performance

Shares of TAC opened at $13.59 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.61, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.76. TransAlta Corporation has a twelve month low of $10.28 and a twelve month high of $17.88. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $13.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.10. The firm has a market cap of $4.29 billion, a P/E ratio of -25.16 and a beta of 0.69.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.03. TransAlta had a negative net margin of 9.46% and a positive return on equity of 9.52%. The firm had revenue of $406.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $436.36 million. On average, analysts forecast that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TAC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Scotiabank raised shares of TransAlta to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. National Bank Financial raised shares of TransAlta from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $24.00 price objective on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. 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 given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.25.

TransAlta Company 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.