66,668 Shares in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) Acquired by Summit Securities Group LLC

Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 66,668 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $943,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of TAC. Tobam bought a new position in shares of TransAlta during the fourth quarter valued at $46,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of TransAlta in the third quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new position in TransAlta in the 4th quarter valued at $145,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of TransAlta during the fourth quarter worth approximately $147,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of TransAlta during the fourth quarter worth approximately $150,000. Institutional investors own 59.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TAC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Cibc World Mkts upgraded TransAlta from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Scotiabank cut shares of TransAlta from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of TransAlta from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, CIBC upgraded TransAlta from a "neutral" rating to an "outperformer" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $19.50 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $19.50.

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TransAlta Stock Down 3.4 %

Shares of NYSE:TAC traded down $0.33 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $9.24. 239,143 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,917,444. The company has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.54 and a beta of 0.89. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $10.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.19. 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 one year low of $5.94 and a one year high of $14.64.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported ($0.16) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.12 by ($0.28). TransAlta had a return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 6.38%. The business had revenue of $484.60 million during the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts predict that TransAlta Co. will post 0.41 EPS for the current year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders 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 is a positive change from TransAlta's previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. This represents a $0.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.98%. TransAlta's payout ratio is currently 43.90%.

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.