ExodusPoint Capital Management LP Takes Position in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC)

ExodusPoint Capital Management LP purchased a new position in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 135,222 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,913,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TAC. Tobam purchased a new position in shares of TransAlta during the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,000. Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new position in TransAlta during the 4th quarter worth about $145,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of TransAlta in the 4th quarter worth $147,000. Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of TransAlta during the fourth quarter valued at about $150,000. Finally, Sage Investment Counsel LLC bought a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the 4th quarter valued at about $156,000. Institutional investors own 59.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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TransAlta Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TAC traded up $0.19 during trading on Monday, reaching $8.88. 79,732 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,141,178. The stock has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.66 and a beta of 0.72. TransAlta Co. has a 12-month low of $5.94 and a 12-month high of $14.64. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $9.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported ($0.16) earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $484.60 million during the quarter. As a group, research analysts anticipate that TransAlta Co. will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $0.0458 dividend. This is a boost from TransAlta's previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. TransAlta's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.90%.

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.