Bank of Nova Scotia Grows Stake in TransAlta Corporation $TAC

Bank of Nova Scotia raised its position in shares of TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) by 23.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,338,554 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 257,356 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in TransAlta were worth $17,595,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in TAC. Rubric Capital Management LP lifted its stake in TransAlta by 32.9% in the second quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 15,948,451 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $172,084,000 after acquiring an additional 3,948,451 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in TransAlta during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,298,000. Sculptor Capital LP purchased a new position in TransAlta during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,958,000. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 27.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,295,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $168,163,000 after purchasing an additional 2,870,026 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the 3rd quarter valued at about $20,533,000. Institutional investors own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TAC has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of TransAlta from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on TransAlta in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Scotiabank upgraded shares of TransAlta to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on TransAlta in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of TransAlta from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.00.

TransAlta Price Performance

TransAlta stock opened at $13.70 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $13.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.17. TransAlta Corporation has a 12-month low of $11.38 and a 12-month high of $17.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.61. The stock has a market cap of $4.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -25.36 and a beta of 0.69.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.01 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $406.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $436.36 million. TransAlta had a negative net margin of 9.46% and a positive return on equity of 9.52%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

TransAlta Profile

TransAlta Corporation, originally founded in 1909 as Calgary Power Company Ltd., is a publicly traded energy company specializing in the development, ownership and operation of power generation and transmission assets. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, TransAlta has grown from its early hydroelectric roots into a diversified energy provider with a multi-fuel generating fleet.

The company’s core business activities encompass power generation, asset management and energy trading services.