TransAlta (TSE:TA) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Cibc World Mkts

Cibc World Mkts cut shares of TransAlta (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

TA has been the topic of several other reports. Scotiabank raised TransAlta to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. CIBC cut TransAlta from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from C$17.00 to C$23.00 in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of TransAlta from C$14.00 to C$16.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of TransAlta from C$17.00 to C$22.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Desjardins lifted their target price on shares of TransAlta from C$15.50 to C$16.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, TransAlta currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$18.33.

TransAlta Price Performance

TA stock opened at C$19.12 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of C$5.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.06, a PEG ratio of -0.07 and a beta of 0.93. 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 219.87, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.84. TransAlta has a 52-week low of C$8.22 and a 52-week high of C$20.98.

TransAlta Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at TransAlta

In related news, Senior Officer Jane Nyla Fedoretz sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$15.11, for a total value of C$377,750.00. Also, Director John Harry Kousinioris sold 35,179 shares of the firm’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. Insiders sold 204,763 shares of company stock valued at $3,478,670 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.