TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) Shares Sold by Timelo Investment Management Inc.

Timelo Investment Management Inc. cut its position in shares of TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) by 52.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 333,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 375,000 shares during the quarter. TransAlta accounts for about 3.3% of Timelo Investment Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Timelo Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.11% of TransAlta worth $4,725,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of TAC. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of TransAlta by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 917,886 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,989,000 after acquiring an additional 62,269 shares in the last quarter. Covalis Capital LLP acquired a new position in TransAlta during the fourth quarter worth $4,005,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its position in TransAlta by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 73,942 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,041,000 after purchasing an additional 5,168 shares in the last quarter. EAM Global Investors LLC acquired a new stake in TransAlta in the 4th quarter valued at $9,022,000. Finally, EAM Investors LLC bought a new stake in TransAlta during the 4th quarter worth about $1,398,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on TAC shares. Scotiabank cut TransAlta from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com lowered TransAlta from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Cibc World Mkts raised TransAlta from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. CIBC upgraded shares of TransAlta from a “neutral” rating to an “outperformer” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $19.50 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Friday, April 11th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.50.

TransAlta Trading Up 0.5 %

TAC stock opened at $8.71 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.25 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $9.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.05. TransAlta Co. has a one year low of $6.36 and a one year high of $14.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported ($0.16) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.28). TransAlta had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 18.47%. The company had revenue of $484.60 million during the quarter. Equities analysts anticipate that TransAlta Co. will post 0.41 EPS for the current year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $0.0458 per share. This is a boost from TransAlta’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.90%.

TransAlta Profile

TransAlta Corporation engages in the development, production, and sale of electric energy. It operates through Hydro, Wind and Solar, Gas, Energy Transition, and Energy Marketing segments. The Hydro segment holds interest of approximately 922 megawatts (MW) of owned hydroelectric generating capacity located in Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario.