TransAlta Co. (TSE:TA) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of TransAlta Co. (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$17.08.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on TA. Desjardins upped 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of TransAlta from C$14.00 to C$16.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of TransAlta from C$17.00 to C$22.00 in a report on Monday. Scotiabank upgraded shares of TransAlta to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, TD Securities raised their price target on TransAlta from C$16.00 to C$18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling at TransAlta

In related news, Director John Harry Kousinioris sold 69,982 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were 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 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$15.11, for a total transaction of C$377,750.00. Insiders sold 224,763 shares of company stock worth $3,757,070 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

TransAlta Price Performance

Shares of TSE TA opened at C$20.02 on Friday. 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 cap of C$5.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of -0.07 and a beta of 0.93. The stock’s 50-day moving average is C$15.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$12.60. TransAlta has a 1-year low of C$8.22 and a 1-year high of C$20.98.

TransAlta Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Sunday, December 1st will be given 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 yield of 1.20%. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.