Louisbourg Investments Inc. Invests $3.44 Million in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC)

Louisbourg Investments Inc. bought a new stake in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 243,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,439,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rubric Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in TransAlta by 20.0% during the third quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 5,622,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $58,254,000 after purchasing an additional 935,803 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in TransAlta by 9.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,593,023 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,613,000 after acquiring an additional 408,184 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in TransAlta during the third quarter worth $998,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of TransAlta during the third quarter valued at $518,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,812,000. 59.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank lowered shares of TransAlta from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. CIBC cut TransAlta from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Desjardins reiterated 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 research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of TransAlta from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, TransAlta presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

TransAlta Stock Down 1.7 %

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. TransAlta Co. has a 52 week low of $5.94 and a 52 week high of $14.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.55 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $13.04 and a 200-day moving average of $10.82.

TransAlta Cuts Dividend

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