Walleye Capital LLC Invests $844,000 in TransAlta Corporation $TAC

Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new stake in TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 61,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $844,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in TransAlta by 37.1% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 812 shares during the period. Sage Rhino Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of TransAlta by 8.7% during the first quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 11,078 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $145,000 after buying an additional 882 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in shares of TransAlta by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 48,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $620,000 after buying an additional 893 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 2.0% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 52,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $715,000 after buying an additional 1,003 shares during the period. Finally, Savant Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 16,568 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $209,000 after buying an additional 1,566 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TAC has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Zacks Research cut TransAlta from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Scotiabank upgraded TransAlta to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. TD Cowen began coverage on TransAlta in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Friday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.50.

TransAlta Stock Up 1.5%

NYSE TAC opened at $12.80 on Friday. TransAlta Corporation has a 1 year low of $11.38 and a 1 year high of $17.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.05 billion, a PE ratio of -71.13 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.64, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The business’s 50-day moving average is $13.34 and its 200 day moving average is $13.18.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $342.85 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $379.54 million. TransAlta had a positive return on equity of 8.85% and a negative net margin of 2.76%. Sell-side analysts forecast that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current year.

TransAlta Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. TransAlta’s payout ratio is -111.11%.

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.