Two Sigma Investments LP Invests $195,000 in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC)

Two Sigma Investments LP acquired a new stake in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 13,792 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $195,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of TransAlta during the 4th quarter worth approximately $147,000. Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in TransAlta in the fourth quarter worth $150,000. Sage Investment Counsel LLC acquired a new stake in TransAlta in the fourth quarter valued at $156,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main acquired a new stake in TransAlta in the fourth quarter valued at $167,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of TransAlta during the 4th quarter worth $209,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

TransAlta Stock Up 8.8%

Shares of NYSE TAC opened at $11.39 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $9.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.76. The company has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a PE ratio of 27.78 and a beta of 0.74. TransAlta Co. has a 12-month low of $6.78 and a 12-month high of $14.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $526.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $509.31 million. TransAlta had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 18.47%. Equities analysts anticipate that TransAlta Co. will post 0.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TAC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of TransAlta from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of TransAlta from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on TransAlta from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. CIBC upgraded TransAlta from a “neutral” rating to an “outperformer” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $19.50 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised TransAlta from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.75.

TransAlta Profile

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.