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

Shares of TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $20.00.

A number of research firms have weighed in on TAC. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research raised TransAlta from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. National Bank Financial lowered TransAlta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th.

Institutional Trading of TransAlta

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of TransAlta by 37.1% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 812 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in TransAlta by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 48,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $620,000 after buying an additional 893 shares during the period. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in TransAlta by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 52,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $715,000 after buying an additional 1,003 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC boosted its position in TransAlta by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 16,568 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 1,566 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in shares of TransAlta by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 40,546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $513,000 after acquiring an additional 1,814 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

TransAlta Stock Performance

TransAlta stock opened at $13.73 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $12.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.80. TransAlta has a 52 week low of $7.82 and a 52 week high of $17.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.07 billion, a P/E ratio of -29.20 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.22.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $436.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $493.39 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that TransAlta will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

TransAlta Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. TransAlta’s payout ratio is -40.43%.

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.