Nuveen Asset Management LLC Sells 6,916 Shares of TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC lessened its position in TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 204,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,916 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC’s holdings in TransAlta were worth $2,892,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $2,703,000 after buying an additional 190,115 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new position in TransAlta in the 4th quarter worth $346,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in TransAlta by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 79,957 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,131,000 after purchasing an additional 5,593 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the 4th quarter valued at about $150,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 52.1% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 37,597 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $532,000 after purchasing an additional 12,871 shares in the last quarter. 59.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TAC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded TransAlta from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. CIBC raised shares of TransAlta from a “neutral” rating to an “outperformer” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $19.50 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on TransAlta in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on TransAlta from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts raised TransAlta from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.75.

TransAlta Price Performance

NYSE:TAC opened at $9.89 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market cap of $2.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.12 and a beta of 0.71. TransAlta Co. has a 52 week low of $6.78 and a 52 week high of $14.64. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $8.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.77.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last released its quarterly 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). The business had revenue of $526.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $509.31 million. TransAlta had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 18.47%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that TransAlta Co. will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

TransAlta Company 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.