TransAlta (TSE:TA) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

TransAlta Co. (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as C$14.49 and last traded at C$14.47, with a volume of 4775 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$14.49.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. CIBC cut their target price on TransAlta from C$16.50 to C$15.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. National Bankshares lifted their price objective on shares of TransAlta from C$14.00 to C$15.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of TransAlta from C$16.00 to C$17.00 in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, TransAlta has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of C$15.43.

TransAlta Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is C$12.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$10.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 219.87, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market capitalization of C$4.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.44, a PEG ratio of -0.07 and a beta of 0.90.

TransAlta (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported C$0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$0.07 by C$0.11. TransAlta had a return on equity of 32.01% and a net margin of 19.50%. The business had revenue of C$582.00 million during the quarter. Research analysts expect that TransAlta Co. will post 0.4475209 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransAlta Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 1st were issued a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Senior Officer Jane Nyla Fedoretz sold 41,378 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$11.30, for a total transaction of C$467,571.40. In other TransAlta news, Senior Officer Kerry Lynn O’reilly sold 48,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$10.99, for a total transaction of C$536,674.67. Also, Senior Officer Jane Nyla Fedoretz sold 41,378 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$11.30, for a total value of C$467,571.40. Insiders have sold 120,217 shares of company stock valued at $1,397,220 over the last 90 days. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

TransAlta Company Profile

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.