TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) Stock Has Average Target Price of $24.50 According to Analysts

TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $24.50.

Several research analysts have weighed in on TAC shares. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of TransAlta from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of TransAlta from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 17th.

Institutional Trading of TransAlta

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the second quarter valued at $123,434,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,434,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the 2nd quarter valued at $4,015,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in TransAlta during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,854,000. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new position in TransAlta during the 2nd quarter worth about $3,453,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

TransAlta Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:TAC opened at $12.88 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $12.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.64. The company has a market capitalization of $4.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -71.58 and a beta of 0.75. TransAlta has a 12-month low of $11.38 and a 12-month high of $17.88.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.02. TransAlta had a negative net margin of 2.76% and a positive return on equity of 8.85%. The firm had revenue of $342.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $379.54 million. Sell-side analysts expect that TransAlta will post 0.21 EPS for the current year.

TransAlta Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st were issued a C$0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 1st. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -111.11%.

About TransAlta

TransAlta Corporation is a Canada-based power generation and wholesale marketing company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. The company develops, owns, and operates electricity-generating facilities and supplies power to utilities, commercial customers, industrial users, and wholesale markets.

TransAlta’s generating portfolio includes hydroelectric, wind, solar, natural gas, and energy storage assets. The company has also historically operated coal-fired power plants, although it has been transitioning away from coal and expanding its renewable and lower-emission generation capabilities.