TransAlta FY2025 EPS Forecast Reduced by Atb Cap Markets

TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) – Analysts at Atb Cap Markets dropped their FY2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of TransAlta in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, April 23rd. Atb Cap Markets analyst N. Heywood now anticipates that the utilities provider will earn $0.32 per share for the year, down from their prior estimate of $0.41. The consensus estimate for TransAlta’s current full-year earnings is $0.41 per share.

TAC has been the subject of several other reports. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of TransAlta from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on TransAlta in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of TransAlta from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Scotiabank cut shares of TransAlta from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, CIBC upgraded TransAlta from a “neutral” rating to an “outperformer” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $23.00 to $19.50 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, TransAlta presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.50.

TransAlta Price Performance

Shares of TransAlta stock opened at $9.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.74. TransAlta has a 52-week low of $6.51 and a 52-week high of $14.64. The company has a fifty day moving average of $9.38 and a 200-day moving average of $10.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.95 and a beta of 0.72.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported ($0.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.28). The firm had revenue of $484.60 million during the quarter. TransAlta had a return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 6.38%.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Sunday, June 1st will be paid a $0.0458 dividend. This is a boost from TransAlta’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. TransAlta’s payout ratio is presently 43.90%.

Institutional Trading of TransAlta

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of TransAlta by 638.9% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 7,995,489 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $112,936,000 after buying an additional 6,913,431 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new position in TransAlta in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $67,038,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in TransAlta by 512.0% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,870,226 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $68,880,000 after purchasing an additional 4,074,395 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 280.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,385,966 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $76,211,000 after purchasing an additional 3,969,037 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of TransAlta by 79.7% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,255,923 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $116,764,000 after purchasing an additional 3,662,900 shares during the last quarter. 59.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.