TransAlta’s (TAC) Outperform Rating Reaffirmed at Royal Bank Of Canada

Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $24.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on TAC. 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 upgraded TransAlta from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, TransAlta presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.33.

TransAlta Stock Performance

Shares of TAC stock opened at $12.77 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.54. The company has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a PE ratio of -27.16 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.85. TransAlta has a 52 week low of $7.82 and a 52 week high of $17.88.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($0.09). TransAlta had a positive return on equity of 10.00% and a negative net margin of 7.51%.The business had revenue of $436.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $493.39 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that TransAlta will post 0.41 EPS for the current year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a $0.07 dividend. This is a positive change from TransAlta’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -40.43%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TransAlta

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in TransAlta by 37.1% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 812 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 48,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $620,000 after purchasing an additional 893 shares during the period. Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 period. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its position in shares of TransAlta by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 40,546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $513,000 after buying an additional 1,814 shares during the last quarter. 59.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.