TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) Receives $19.88 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $19.8750.

TAC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Natl Bk Canada lowered shares of TransAlta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Monday, October 6th.

Institutional Trading of TransAlta

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TAC. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its position in shares of TransAlta by 19.5% during the second quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 70,554 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $754,000 after acquiring an additional 11,532 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in TransAlta during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,039,000. Timelo Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the 2nd quarter valued at about $647,000. CenterBook Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the second quarter valued at about $8,367,000. Finally, Greenland Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 107.8% in the second quarter. Greenland Capital Management LP now owns 181,126 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,950,000 after purchasing an additional 93,976 shares in the last quarter. 59.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

TransAlta Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE:TAC opened at $12.16 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.22. TransAlta has a 12-month low of $7.82 and a 12-month high of $17.88. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.61 billion, a P/E ratio of -25.32 and a beta of 0.75.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by ($0.07). TransAlta had a negative net margin of 7.39% and a positive return on equity of 3.00%. The company had revenue of $441.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $558.84 million. Equities research analysts expect that TransAlta will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

TransAlta Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Sunday, March 1st will be given a dividend of $0.065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -37.50%.

About TransAlta

TransAlta Corporation, originally founded in 1909 as Calgary Power Company Ltd., is a publicly traded energy company specializing in the development, ownership and operation of power generation and transmission assets. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, TransAlta has grown from its early hydroelectric roots into a diversified energy provider with a multi-fuel generating fleet.

The company’s core business activities encompass power generation, asset management and energy trading services.