BMO Capital Markets Increases TransAlta (TSE:TA) Price Target to C$22.00

TransAlta (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) had its price objective increased by BMO Capital Markets from C$17.00 to C$22.00 in a research report report published on Monday morning,BayStreet.CA reports.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on TA. TD Securities lifted their target price on TransAlta from C$16.00 to C$18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Desjardins downgraded TransAlta from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on TransAlta from C$14.00 to C$16.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. National Bankshares raised their price target on shares of TransAlta from C$14.00 to C$15.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of TransAlta to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of C$17.00.

TransAlta Stock Performance

TransAlta stock opened at C$19.85 on Monday. TransAlta has a 12-month low of C$8.22 and a 12-month high of C$19.87. 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 company has a market capitalization of C$5.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of -0.07 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is C$15.12 and its 200 day moving average price is C$12.35.

TransAlta Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 1st will be issued a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other TransAlta news, Director John Harry Kousinioris sold 69,982 shares of TransAlta stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$15.15, for a total value of C$1,060,227.30. Also, Senior Officer Jane Nyla Fedoretz sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$13.92, for a total value of C$278,400.00. Insiders have sold 179,584 shares of company stock worth $2,833,709 over the last ninety days. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.