TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) Cut to “Hold” at Natl Bk Canada

Natl Bk Canada lowered shares of TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Monday, October 6th. CIBC reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Monday, October 20th. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $20.00 target price (up previously from $19.00) on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of TransAlta from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.88.

TransAlta Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of TAC opened at $14.07 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.22. The business has a fifty day moving average of $15.43 and a 200 day moving average of $12.95. The company has a market cap of $4.17 billion, a PE ratio of -29.30 and a beta of 0.75. TransAlta has a 52-week low of $7.82 and a 52-week high of $17.88.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.06 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $441.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $558.84 million. TransAlta had a negative net margin of 7.39% and a positive return on equity of 3.00%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that TransAlta will post 0.41 EPS for the current year.

TransAlta Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be given a $0.065 dividend. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio is presently -39.58%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TransAlta

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in TransAlta by 199.1% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 16,462,892 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $153,813,000 after acquiring an additional 10,957,858 shares in the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of TransAlta by 32.9% in the 2nd quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 15,948,451 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $172,084,000 after buying an additional 3,948,451 shares during the last quarter. Aventail Capital Group LP bought a new position in shares of TransAlta during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,633,000. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in TransAlta during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,395,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new stake in TransAlta during the third quarter valued at approximately $20,533,000. Institutional investors own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

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.