TransAlta’s (TAC) “Sell (D+)” Rating Reiterated at Weiss Ratings

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA)‘s stock had its “sell (d+)” rating reissued by research analysts at Weiss Ratings in a research note issued on Friday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Zacks Research cut TransAlta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 price objective (up from $19.00) on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. CIBC reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Monday. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, National Bankshares reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, TransAlta currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.88.

TransAlta Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE TAC opened at $17.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.98, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.12 billion, a PE ratio of -41.13 and a beta of 0.79. TransAlta has a 1 year low of $7.82 and a 1 year high of $17.69. The business’s 50-day moving average is $13.92 and its 200 day moving average is $11.59.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $451.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $473.94 million. TransAlta had a negative return on equity of 2.06% and a negative net margin of 6.79%. Sell-side analysts forecast that TransAlta will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TransAlta

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in TAC. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 199.1% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 16,462,892 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $153,813,000 after purchasing an additional 10,957,858 shares during the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 32.9% during the second quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 15,948,451 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $172,084,000 after purchasing an additional 3,948,451 shares during the last quarter. Yaupon Capital Management LP raised its holdings in TransAlta by 138.0% in the 1st quarter. Yaupon Capital Management LP now owns 1,680,101 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,681,000 after acquiring an additional 974,253 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in TransAlta by 1,150.1% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 904,342 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,456,000 after acquiring an additional 832,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CenterBook Partners LP purchased a new position in TransAlta in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $8,367,000. 59.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.