Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Has $48 Million Stake in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership cut its stake in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) by 25.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,398,079 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,175,956 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in TransAlta were worth $47,998,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Tobam bought a new stake in TransAlta during the fourth quarter worth $46,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in TransAlta during the 3rd quarter worth $61,000. Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new position in TransAlta during the 4th quarter worth $145,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the 4th quarter worth $147,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the fourth quarter valued at about $150,000. Institutional investors own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

TransAlta Stock Performance

NYSE TAC opened at $9.46 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.06 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94. The company’s 50 day moving average is $10.41 and its 200-day moving average is $11.20. TransAlta Co. has a 12-month low of $5.94 and a 12-month high of $14.64.

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

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Sunday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.0458 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. This is a boost from TransAlta’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. TransAlta’s payout ratio is currently 43.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on TAC shares. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of TransAlta from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Scotiabank downgraded TransAlta from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com cut TransAlta from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, CIBC raised shares of TransAlta from a “neutral” rating to an “outperformer” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $23.00 to $19.50 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, TransAlta currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.50.

About TransAlta

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.