TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) Reaches New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $14.90 and last traded at $14.42, with a volume of 1925976 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.70.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on TAC shares. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 target price (up previously from $19.00) on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded TransAlta from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded TransAlta from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 14th. Finally, National Bankshares restated 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, five have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.88.

TransAlta Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $12.67 and a 200-day moving average of $10.87. The stock has a market cap of $4.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -34.47 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.98, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.79.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.06. TransAlta had a negative return on equity of 2.06% and a negative net margin of 6.79%.The company had revenue of $451.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $473.94 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 1st were issued a $0.065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. This is a boost from TransAlta’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio is presently -45.24%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On TransAlta

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in TransAlta by 145,600.0% in the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,914 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 2,912 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in TransAlta by 48,666.7% in the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 4,389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 4,380 shares in the last quarter. Tobam boosted its holdings in TransAlta by 239.2% in the 1st quarter. Tobam now owns 10,943 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 7,717 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of TransAlta during the 1st quarter worth approximately $119,000. Finally, Savant Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of TransAlta during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $127,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

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.