Louisbourg Investments Inc. Takes Position in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC)

Louisbourg Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 243,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,439,000. Louisbourg Investments Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of TransAlta at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of TAC. Tobam purchased a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new position in TransAlta in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in TransAlta in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $61,000. Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of TransAlta during the 4th quarter valued at $145,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in TransAlta in the third quarter valued at approximately $130,000. 59.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on TAC. Scotiabank downgraded shares of TransAlta from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Desjardins reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Cibc World Mkts lowered TransAlta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. CIBC lowered TransAlta from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded TransAlta from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

TransAlta Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:TAC opened at $10.57 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $13.04 and its 200-day moving average is $10.82. The company has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.55 and a beta of 0.83. TransAlta Co. has a 52-week low of $5.94 and a 52-week high of $14.64.

TransAlta Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Saturday, March 1st will be given a $0.0423 dividend. This represents a $0.17 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.65%.

TransAlta Company 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.