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

TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $21.3333.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. National Bank Financial raised TransAlta from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered TransAlta from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th.

TransAlta Trading Down 2.5%

TAC opened at $12.47 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.08 and a beta of 0.66. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $12.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.38. TransAlta has a one year low of $8.73 and a one year high of $17.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.61, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.76.

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

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This is a positive change from TransAlta’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -35.19%.

Institutional Trading of TransAlta

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of TAC. Rubric Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 32.9% in the second quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 15,948,451 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $172,084,000 after purchasing an additional 3,948,451 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,298,000. Sculptor Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,958,000. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 27.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,295,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $168,163,000 after purchasing an additional 2,870,026 shares during the period. Finally, Aventail Capital Group LP purchased a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,633,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

About TransAlta

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.