PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. Acquires 46,250 Shares of TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC)

PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. boosted its stake in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA by 18.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 294,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 46,250 shares during the quarter. TransAlta comprises about 1.4% of PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. owned 0.10% of TransAlta worth $4,160,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Yaupon Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of TransAlta by 69.9% during the third quarter. Yaupon Capital Management LP now owns 2,685,955 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $27,840,000 after purchasing an additional 1,105,191 shares in the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of 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. Artemis Investment Management LLP bought a new position in shares of TransAlta during the fourth quarter valued at about $7,139,000. Potrero Capital Research LLC bought a new position in shares of TransAlta during the third quarter valued at about $5,088,000. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of TransAlta by 9.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,593,023 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $47,613,000 after purchasing an additional 408,184 shares in the last quarter. 59.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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TransAlta Price Performance

NYSE:TAC traded up $0.32 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $9.64. 1,492,235 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,183,830. The business's 50-day moving average price is $11.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.13. The company has a market cap of $2.87 billion, a PE ratio of 23.50 and a beta of 0.89. TransAlta Co. has a 12-month low of $5.94 and a 12-month high of $14.64. 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 (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported ($0.16) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.28). The firm had revenue of $484.60 million for the quarter. TransAlta had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 18.47%. On average, analysts expect that TransAlta Co. will post 0.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 1st will be paid a $0.0458 dividend. This represents a $0.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. 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

TAC has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com lowered 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. CIBC upgraded shares of TransAlta from a "neutral" rating to an "outperformer" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $19.50 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded shares of TransAlta from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, TransAlta has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.