Bridgewater Associates LP Acquires Shares of 307,847 TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC)

Bridgewater Associates LP bought a new position in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 307,847 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,352,000. Bridgewater Associates LP owned about 0.10% of TransAlta at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in TAC. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the third quarter worth about $998,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the third quarter worth about $1,812,000. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 281.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 143,062 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,482,000 after purchasing an additional 105,562 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 2.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 122,621 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,277,000 after purchasing an additional 2,524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in TransAlta by 190.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 147,669 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,550,000 after acquiring an additional 96,856 shares in the last quarter. 59.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

TransAlta Stock Performance

Shares of TransAlta stock traded up $0.09 on Wednesday, reaching $8.64. 120,691 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,803,175. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94. TransAlta Co. has a twelve month low of $6.49 and a twelve month high of $14.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.07 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $9.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.02.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last announced 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 for the quarter. Analysts anticipate that TransAlta Co. will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Sunday, June 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.0458 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This is an increase from TransAlta's previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. This represents a $0.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. TransAlta's dividend payout ratio is 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.