Quantbot Technologies LP Buys Shares of 109,555 TransAlta Corporation $TAC

Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 109,555 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,515,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in TAC. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 27.8% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 5,214 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 170,829 shares in the last quarter. Westerly Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in TransAlta in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $8,281,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in TransAlta by 418.8% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 295,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,186,000 after buying an additional 238,422 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Scotiabank upgraded TransAlta to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Weiss Ratings cut TransAlta from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Friday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, TransAlta presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.50.

TransAlta Trading Down 0.9%

NYSE TAC opened at $12.11 on Tuesday. TransAlta Corporation has a 52 week low of $11.38 and a 52 week high of $17.88. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $13.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $13.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a PE ratio of -67.25 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.64.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $342.85 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $379.54 million. TransAlta had a negative net margin of 2.76% and a positive return on equity of 8.85%. As a group, research analysts expect that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransAlta Dividend Announcement

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

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.