Potrero Capital Research LLC Has $32.88 Million Stake in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC)

Potrero Capital Research LLC lifted its holdings in shares of TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) by 373.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,323,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,832,803 shares during the quarter. TransAlta makes up 11.0% of Potrero Capital Research LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Potrero Capital Research LLC’s holdings in TransAlta were worth $32,884,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the fourth quarter worth $145,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of TransAlta by 20,398.6% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 191,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,703,000 after acquiring an additional 190,115 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of TransAlta by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 79,957 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,131,000 after acquiring an additional 5,593 shares during the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the fourth quarter worth $7,139,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

TransAlta Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of NYSE:TAC opened at $8.98 on Thursday. TransAlta Co. has a 1 year low of $6.78 and a 1 year high of $14.64. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $9.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $2.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.90 and a beta of 0.71.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.02). TransAlta had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 18.47%. The firm had revenue of $526.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $509.31 million. Sell-side analysts expect that TransAlta Co. will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.0458 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. This is an increase from TransAlta’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -900.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on TAC shares. CIBC raised TransAlta from a “neutral” rating to an “outperformer” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $19.50 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com cut TransAlta from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on TransAlta in a report on Friday, April 11th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Scotiabank downgraded TransAlta from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Cibc World Mkts raised TransAlta from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.75.

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.