3,581,371 Shares in TransAlta Corporation $TAC Bought by Norges Bank

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 3,581,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $45,298,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of TAC. Rubric Capital Management LP boosted its position in TransAlta by 32.9% during the second quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 15,948,451 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $172,084,000 after purchasing an additional 3,948,451 shares during the last quarter. Aventail Capital Group LP acquired a new position in TransAlta during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,633,000. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new position in TransAlta during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,395,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new position in TransAlta during the third quarter valued at approximately $20,533,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in TransAlta by 15.1% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 10,425,309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $142,373,000 after acquiring an additional 1,369,830 shares during the last quarter. 59.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on TAC. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of TransAlta from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $24.00 price target on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut TransAlta from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.33.

TransAlta Stock Performance

NYSE TAC opened at $12.51 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $13.15 and a 200-day moving average of $13.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.61, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a PE ratio of -23.16 and a beta of 0.69. TransAlta Corporation has a 52-week low of $10.22 and a 52-week high of $17.88.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.01 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $406.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $436.36 million. TransAlta had a positive return on equity of 9.52% and a negative net margin of 9.46%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.26 EPS for the current year.

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.