Intact Investment Management Inc. Sells 112,600 Shares of TransAlta Corporation $TAC

Intact Investment Management Inc. trimmed its stake in TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 579,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 112,600 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc. owned 0.20% of TransAlta worth $7,923,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in TAC. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its stake in TransAlta by 19.5% in the second quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 70,554 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $754,000 after purchasing an additional 11,532 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of TransAlta during the second quarter valued at about $1,039,000. Timelo Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the 2nd quarter valued at about $647,000. CenterBook Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the 2nd quarter valued at about $8,367,000. Finally, Greenland Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of TransAlta by 107.8% during the 2nd quarter. Greenland Capital Management LP now owns 181,126 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,950,000 after acquiring an additional 93,976 shares in the last quarter. 59.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

TransAlta Stock Up 2.0%

TransAlta stock opened at $12.72 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $13.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.22, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $3.77 billion, a PE ratio of -26.49 and a beta of 0.75. TransAlta Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $7.82 and a fifty-two week high of $17.88.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.06 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $441.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $558.84 million. TransAlta had a positive return on equity of 3.00% and a negative net margin of 7.39%. Equities analysts anticipate that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.41 EPS for the current year.

TransAlta Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Sunday, March 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.065 per share. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. TransAlta’s payout ratio is presently -39.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on TAC. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Monday, October 6th. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Natl Bk Canada downgraded TransAlta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.88.

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.