TransAlta Co. (TSE:TA) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of TransAlta Co. (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) have been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$15.50.

TA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. National Bankshares lifted their target price on TransAlta from C$14.00 to C$15.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Desjardins set a C$15.50 target price on TransAlta and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. CIBC lowered their price objective on TransAlta from C$16.50 to C$15.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on TransAlta from C$16.00 to C$17.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, TD Securities upped their price target on TransAlta from C$14.00 to C$16.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday.

Insider Activity

In other news, Senior Officer Jane Nyla Fedoretz sold 41,378 shares of the company’s 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 news, Senior Officer Jane Nyla Fedoretz sold 41,378 shares of the company’s 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. Also, Senior Officer Kerry Lynn O’reilly sold 48,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$10.99, for a total value of C$536,674.67. 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 company insiders.

TransAlta Price Performance

Shares of TSE TA opened at C$14.60 on Thursday. TransAlta has a fifty-two week low of C$8.22 and a fifty-two week high of C$14.73. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is C$13.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$10.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 219.87. The stock has a market cap of C$4.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.68, a P/E/G ratio of -0.07 and a beta of 0.93.

TransAlta (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported C$0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of C$0.07 by C$0.11. The firm had revenue of C$582.00 million for the quarter. TransAlta had a return on equity of 32.01% and a net margin of 19.50%.

TransAlta Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 1st will be paid a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.63%.

About TransAlta

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.