TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $21.3333.

Several research firms have commented on TAC. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Zacks Research raised shares of TransAlta from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $24.00 target price on shares of TransAlta in a report on Tuesday. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of TransAlta from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On TransAlta

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of TAC. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of TransAlta by 27.8% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 208,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,954,000 after acquiring an additional 45,478 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 3.5% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 152,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,660,000 after purchasing an additional 5,214 shares during the period. Creative Planning grew its stake in TransAlta by 6.9% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 51,336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $554,000 after purchasing an additional 3,322 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP increased its holdings in TransAlta by 41.8% during the 2nd quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 18,033 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $195,000 after purchasing an additional 5,312 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in TransAlta by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 309,139 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,328,000 after purchasing an additional 8,907 shares during the period. 59.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

TransAlta Price Performance

NYSE:TAC opened at $12.94 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.54 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.54, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.84. TransAlta has a 1 year low of $7.82 and a 1 year high of $17.88.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported ($0.04) earnings per share 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 10.00%. The company had revenue of $436.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $493.39 million. Equities analysts forecast that TransAlta will post 0.41 EPS for the current year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.07 per share. This is a positive change from TransAlta’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. TransAlta’s payout ratio is currently -40.43%.

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.