Tacita Capital Inc Acquires New Stake in TransAlta Corporation $TAC

Tacita Capital Inc acquired a new stake in shares of TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 222,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,073,000. TransAlta comprises 1.7% of Tacita Capital Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Tacita Capital Inc owned about 0.07% of TransAlta at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in TAC. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the second quarter worth $29,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of TransAlta in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in TransAlta in the 4th quarter worth about $129,000. Finally, Ritter Alpha LP purchased a new stake in TransAlta during the 4th quarter valued at about $131,000. 59.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

TransAlta Stock Down 0.7%

TAC opened at $12.38 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.64. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $13.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.16. TransAlta Corporation has a twelve month low of $11.38 and a twelve month high of $17.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -68.80 and a beta of 0.70.

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

TransAlta Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.