TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) Upgraded to Outperform at National Bank Financial

National Bank Financial upgraded shares of TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of TransAlta from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, TransAlta presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.33.

TransAlta Trading Up 6.1%

NYSE:TAC opened at $12.77 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.79 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.16 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.54, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.67. TransAlta has a 12-month low of $7.82 and a 12-month high of $17.88.

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

TransAlta Increases Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TransAlta

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd bought a new stake in shares of TransAlta during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,395,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 2.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,949,384 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $149,569,000 after acquiring an additional 248,027 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of TransAlta by 15.1% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 10,425,309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $142,373,000 after acquiring an additional 1,369,830 shares during the period. Oaktree Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of TransAlta by 5.4% during the third quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP now owns 6,415,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $87,648,000 after acquiring an additional 330,000 shares during the period. Finally, Aventail Capital Group LP bought a new stake in TransAlta during the third quarter worth approximately $38,633,000. Institutional investors own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

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.