96,266 Shares in TransAlta Corporation $TAC Acquired by Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 96,266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,039,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of TAC. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in TransAlta by 48,666.7% in the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 4,389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 4,380 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of TransAlta during the 1st quarter valued at $119,000. Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of TransAlta during the 2nd quarter valued at $134,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in shares of TransAlta during the 1st quarter valued at $146,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 64.9% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 17,525 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $164,000 after acquiring an additional 6,900 shares in the last quarter. 59.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

TransAlta Price Performance

Shares of TransAlta stock opened at $17.62 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.98, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.72. TransAlta Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $7.82 and a fifty-two week high of $17.88. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $14.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.03. The company has a market cap of $5.23 billion, a PE ratio of -41.94 and a beta of 0.79.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.06. TransAlta had a negative net margin of 6.79% and a negative return on equity of 2.06%. The company had revenue of $451.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $473.94 million. Analysts expect that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.41 EPS for the current year.

TransAlta Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 1st. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -42.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on TAC shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Monday, October 6th. National Bankshares restated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Zacks Research lowered shares of TransAlta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, CIBC reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Monday, October 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.88.

About TransAlta

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.