TransAlta (TSE:TA) Rating Increased to Moderate Buy at Desjardins

Desjardins upgraded shares of TransAlta (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) to a moderate buy rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning, Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. TD Securities boosted their price target on shares of TransAlta from C$14.00 to C$16.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. CIBC cut their price target on TransAlta from C$16.50 to C$15.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. National Bankshares increased their target price on TransAlta from C$14.00 to C$15.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of TransAlta from C$16.00 to C$17.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of C$15.50.

TransAlta Stock Up 3.9 %

TA opened at C$14.60 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of C$4.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of -0.07 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 219.87, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.84. The firm’s fifty day moving average is C$13.14 and its 200 day moving average is C$10.93. TransAlta has a fifty-two week low of C$8.22 and a fifty-two week high of C$14.73.

TransAlta (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported C$0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$0.07 by C$0.11. TransAlta had a return on equity of 32.01% and a net margin of 19.50%. The company had revenue of C$582.00 million for the quarter.

TransAlta Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. TransAlta’s payout ratio is 12.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at TransAlta

In related news, Senior Officer Kerry Lynn O’reilly sold 48,833 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$10.99, for a total value of C$536,674.67. In other news, Senior Officer Kerry Lynn O’reilly sold 48,833 shares of TransAlta stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$10.99, for a total transaction of C$536,674.67. Also, Senior Officer Jane Nyla Fedoretz sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$11.45, for a total transaction of C$114,500.00. Insiders have sold 120,217 shares of company stock worth $1,397,220 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.