TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Cibc World Mkts

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) was upgraded by investment analysts at Cibc World Mkts from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

TAC has been the subject of a number of other reports. Scotiabank lowered TransAlta from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com raised TransAlta from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Desjardins reissued a “hold” rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, CIBC raised TransAlta from a “neutral” rating to an “outperformer” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $23.00 to $19.50 in a report on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, TransAlta currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.50.

TransAlta Stock Performance

Shares of TransAlta stock opened at $10.58 on Tuesday. TransAlta has a one year low of $5.94 and a one year high of $14.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.59 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

Institutional Trading of TransAlta

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tobam purchased a new position in shares of TransAlta in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new position in shares of TransAlta in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of TransAlta in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $61,000. Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of TransAlta in the 4th quarter worth approximately $145,000. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of TransAlta in the 4th quarter worth approximately $147,000. 59.00% of the stock is owned by 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.