Brokerages Set TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) Price Target at $21.33

Shares of TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $21.3333.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. National Bank Financial raised TransAlta from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of TransAlta from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $24.00 price objective on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st.

TransAlta Price Performance

NYSE TAC opened at $12.94 on Friday. TransAlta has a fifty-two week low of $7.82 and a fifty-two week high of $17.88. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $12.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.86. The firm has a market cap of $3.84 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.52 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.54, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.09). TransAlta had a positive return on equity of 10.00% and a negative net margin of 7.51%.The company had revenue of $436.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $493.39 million. On average, analysts anticipate that TransAlta will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a $0.07 dividend. This is an increase from TransAlta’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -40.43%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TransAlta

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Purpose Unlimited Inc. bought a new stake in TransAlta during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,441,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in TransAlta in the 4th quarter worth approximately $87,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of TransAlta during the fourth quarter worth approximately $147,000. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL lifted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 2,821.5% during the fourth quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 404,429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,112,000 after buying an additional 390,586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Twinbeech Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $420,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

TransAlta Company Profile

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.