CIBC Asset Management Inc Lowers Stock Position in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC)

CIBC Asset Management Inc lessened its position in shares of TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) by 83.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 328,108 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,688,667 shares during the quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc owned about 0.11% of TransAlta worth $4,630,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rubric Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of TransAlta by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 5,622,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $58,254,000 after acquiring an additional 935,803 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of TransAlta by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,593,023 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,613,000 after acquiring an additional 408,184 shares in the last quarter. Yaupon Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of TransAlta by 69.9% during the 3rd quarter. Yaupon Capital Management LP now owns 2,685,955 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,840,000 after acquiring an additional 1,105,191 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of TransAlta by 37.8% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,286,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,343,000 after acquiring an additional 352,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP bought a new position in shares of TransAlta during the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,139,000. Institutional investors own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on TAC shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of TransAlta from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Scotiabank lowered shares of TransAlta from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Desjardins restated a “hold” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. CIBC upgraded shares of TransAlta from a “neutral” rating to an “outperformer” rating and cut their price target for the company from $23.00 to $19.50 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of TransAlta from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, TransAlta has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.50.

TransAlta Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE:TAC opened at $10.53 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.45 and a beta of 0.83. TransAlta Co. has a 1-year low of $5.94 and a 1-year high of $14.64. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $12.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

TransAlta Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 1st will be paid a $0.0423 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. TransAlta’s payout ratio is currently 48.65%.

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.