TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of C$0.07

TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.07 per share by the utilities provider on Wednesday, July 1st. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This is a 7.7% increase from TransAlta’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07.

TransAlta has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.0%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 2 consecutive years. TransAlta has a dividend payout ratio of 117.6% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities analysts expect TransAlta to earn $0.45 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 44.4%.

TransAlta Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TAC opened at $14.25 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $13.03 and a 200 day moving average of $13.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.38 and a beta of 0.66. TransAlta has a 12-month low of $9.52 and a 12-month high of $17.88.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.01 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $406.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $436.36 million. TransAlta had a negative net margin of 9.46% and a positive return on equity of 9.52%. On average, research analysts anticipate that TransAlta will post 0.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on TAC shares. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of TransAlta from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of TransAlta from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, TransAlta currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.33.

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.