TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) Stock Crosses Above 200-Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA)’s share price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $11.13 and traded as high as $17.69. TransAlta shares last traded at $17.10, with a volume of 6,885,175 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on TAC. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Monday, October 6th. Zacks Research cut shares of TransAlta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $20.00 price target (up previously from $19.00) on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.88.

TransAlta Trading Up 9.7%

The stock has a market capitalization of $5.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -40.70 and a beta of 0.79. The company’s 50-day moving average is $13.07 and its 200-day moving average is $11.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.98.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.06. TransAlta had a negative net margin of 6.79% and a negative return on equity of 2.06%. The business had revenue of $451.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $473.94 million. Research analysts anticipate that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 1st were paid a $0.065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. This is an increase from TransAlta’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio is presently -45.24%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On TransAlta

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sowell Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in TransAlta by 55.3% in the 1st quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 22,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $211,000 after purchasing an additional 8,019 shares in the last quarter. Louisbourg Investments Inc. increased its position in TransAlta by 9.8% during the 1st quarter. Louisbourg Investments Inc. now owns 267,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,495,000 after purchasing an additional 23,800 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. acquired a new stake in TransAlta during the 1st quarter worth approximately $638,000. Artemis Investment Management LLP grew its position in TransAlta by 86.6% in the first quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 942,962 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,802,000 after acquiring an additional 437,511 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in TransAlta by 64.9% in the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 17,525 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $164,000 after acquiring an additional 6,900 shares in the last quarter. 59.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.