Lombard Odier Asset Management USA Corp Acquires Shares of 171,000 TransAlta Corporation $TAC

Lombard Odier Asset Management USA Corp acquired a new position in TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 171,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,336,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in TAC. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of TransAlta by 27.8% during the 1st 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 buying an additional 45,478 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC purchased a new position in TransAlta in the second quarter worth about $127,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in TransAlta by 3.5% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 152,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,660,000 after acquiring an additional 5,214 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its stake in TransAlta by 6.9% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 51,336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $554,000 after acquiring an additional 3,322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenland Capital Management LP raised its position in TransAlta by 107.8% during the second quarter. Greenland Capital Management LP now owns 181,126 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,950,000 after purchasing an additional 93,976 shares during the period. 59.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

TransAlta Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE TAC opened at $12.48 on Tuesday. TransAlta Corporation has a 1 year low of $7.82 and a 1 year high of $17.88. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.84. The company has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -26.54 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.54, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

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

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a $0.07 dividend. This is a boost from TransAlta’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio is currently -42.55%.

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.