TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $20.00.

TAC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. National Bank Financial downgraded shares of TransAlta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Monday, November 10th. Zacks Research raised TransAlta from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st.

TransAlta Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TAC opened at $13.73 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.22. TransAlta has a fifty-two week low of $7.82 and a fifty-two week high of $17.88. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $12.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $13.80. The firm has a market cap of $4.07 billion, a PE ratio of -29.20 and a beta of 0.77.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.09). TransAlta had a negative net margin of 7.51% and a positive return on equity of 9.23%. The business had revenue of $436.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $493.39 million. Sell-side analysts expect that TransAlta will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransAlta Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Sunday, March 1st will be given a dividend of $0.065 per share. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio is currently -40.43%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TransAlta

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in TransAlta during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $147,000. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL boosted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 2,821.5% during the fourth quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 404,429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,112,000 after acquiring an additional 390,586 shares during the period. Twinbeech Capital LP bought a new position in shares of TransAlta during the fourth quarter worth about $420,000. Man Group plc increased its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 159.9% in the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 2,098,053 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,520,000 after acquiring an additional 1,290,854 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Management Corp of Ontario acquired a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the 4th quarter worth about $410,000. 59.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

TransAlta Company 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.