Cinctive Capital Management LP Acquires 173,281 Shares of TransAlta Corporation $TAC

Cinctive Capital Management LP increased its holdings in TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) by 190.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 264,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 173,281 shares during the quarter. Cinctive Capital Management LP owned about 0.09% of TransAlta worth $3,611,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Savant Capital LLC bought a new position in TransAlta during the 2nd quarter valued at about $127,000. Sage Rhino Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the third quarter worth approximately $139,000. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of TransAlta during the second quarter valued at approximately $159,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of TransAlta during the second quarter valued at approximately $173,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP lifted its position in TransAlta by 41.8% during the second quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 18,033 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $195,000 after purchasing an additional 5,312 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on TAC shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. National Bank Financial lowered shares of TransAlta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded TransAlta from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, TransAlta has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.00.

TransAlta Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TAC opened at $12.45 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $12.96 and a 200 day moving average of $13.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.48 and a beta of 0.77. TransAlta Corporation has a 12-month low of $7.82 and a 12-month high of $17.88.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.09). TransAlta had a positive return on equity of 10.00% and a negative net margin of 7.51%.The business had revenue of $436.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $493.39 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a $0.07 dividend. This is a positive change from TransAlta’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -40.43%.

About TransAlta

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.