TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation, six have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $19.8750.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on TAC shares. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. CIBC restated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Zacks Research raised TransAlta from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Wednesday, January 21st.

Institutional Trading of TransAlta

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of TAC. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in TransAlta in the fourth quarter worth approximately $50,000. Savant Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the 2nd quarter worth $127,000. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of TransAlta during the 4th quarter worth $129,000. Sage Rhino Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of TransAlta during the third quarter valued at $139,000. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the second quarter valued at about $140,000. Institutional investors own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

TransAlta Trading Down 3.8%

Shares of TAC stock opened at $12.57 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.73 billion, a PE ratio of -26.19 and a beta of 0.78. TransAlta has a 1 year low of $7.82 and a 1 year high of $17.88. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.22, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last released 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 company had revenue of $441.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $558.84 million. TransAlta had a negative net margin of 7.39% and a positive return on equity of 3.00%. Research analysts predict that TransAlta will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

TransAlta Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Sunday, March 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.065 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -39.58%.

About TransAlta

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.