TransAlta (TSE:TA) Stock Rating Lowered by CIBC

CIBC cut shares of TransAlta (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a report released on Wednesday,BayStreet.CA reports. CIBC currently has C$23.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of C$17.00.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on TA. Scotiabank raised TransAlta to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of TransAlta from C$14.00 to C$16.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Desjardins lifted their price target on shares of TransAlta from C$15.50 to C$16.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Securities raised their price objective on TransAlta from C$16.00 to C$18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on TransAlta from C$17.00 to C$22.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, TransAlta has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$18.33.

TransAlta Price Performance

Shares of TSE TA opened at C$19.12 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of C$17.45 and a 200 day moving average price of C$13.74. The firm has a market cap of C$5.70 billion, a PE ratio of 10.06, a PEG ratio of -0.07 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 219.87. TransAlta has a 1-year low of C$8.22 and a 1-year high of C$20.98.

TransAlta Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 1st were issued a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.63%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Senior Officer Jane Nyla Fedoretz sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$15.11, for a total transaction of C$377,750.00. Also, Director John Harry Kousinioris sold 35,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$20.73, for a total value of C$729,260.67. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 204,763 shares of company stock valued at $3,478,670. 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.