Oaktree Capital Management LP Has $87.65 Million Stock Position in TransAlta Corporation $TAC

Oaktree Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,415,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 330,000 shares during the quarter. TransAlta makes up approximately 0.7% of Oaktree Capital Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Oaktree Capital Management LP’s holdings in TransAlta were worth $87,648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in TAC. Savant Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of TransAlta by 27.7% in the third quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 15,002 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 3,257 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its position in TransAlta by 6.9% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 51,336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $554,000 after purchasing an additional 3,322 shares in the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC increased its stake in TransAlta by 28.6% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 18,981 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $259,000 after buying an additional 4,216 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in TransAlta by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 152,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,660,000 after buying an additional 5,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP lifted its position in TransAlta by 41.8% during the 2nd quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 18,033 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $195,000 after buying an additional 5,312 shares in the last quarter. 59.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

TransAlta Stock Performance

Shares of TransAlta stock traded up $0.08 during trading on Friday, hitting $12.84. 48,579 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,554,208. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $12.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.34 and a beta of 0.77. TransAlta Corporation has a 1-year low of $7.82 and a 1-year high of $17.88.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $436.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $493.39 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.