AYAL Capital Advisors Ltd Cuts Position in TransAlta Corporation $TAC

AYAL Capital Advisors Ltd cut its holdings in TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) by 94.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 430,600 shares during the period. AYAL Capital Advisors Ltd’s holdings in TransAlta were worth $324,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in TAC. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in TransAlta by 27.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 208,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,954,000 after purchasing an additional 45,478 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of TransAlta by 3.5% during the second 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 period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of TransAlta by 18.9% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,075,171 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,601,000 after buying an additional 170,829 shares during the period. Westerly Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of TransAlta during the second quarter valued at about $8,281,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of TransAlta by 418.8% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 295,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,186,000 after buying an additional 238,422 shares during the period. 59.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on TAC shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of TransAlta from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $24.00 price target on shares of TransAlta in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of TransAlta in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Scotiabank upgraded shares of TransAlta to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, National Bank Financial upgraded shares of TransAlta from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.25.

TransAlta Stock Up 0.5%

TAC opened at $13.58 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.61. TransAlta Corporation has a 1-year low of $10.28 and a 1-year high of $17.88. The company has a market capitalization of $4.29 billion, a PE ratio of -25.14 and a beta of 0.69. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.09.

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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $436.36 million. TransAlta had a negative net margin of 9.46% and a positive return on equity of 9.52%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.22 EPS for the current year.

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.