TransAlta (TSE:TA) Insider Purchases C$177,700.00 in Stock

TransAlta Co. (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) insider Michael Politeski bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of C$17.77 per share, with a total value of C$177,700.00. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 85,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$1,510,450. This trade represents a 13.33% increase in their ownership of the stock.

Michael Politeski also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, June 19th, Michael Politeski purchased 10,000 shares of TransAlta stock. The shares were bought at an average price of C$19.58 per share, for a total transaction of C$195,800.00.
• On Friday, June 5th, Michael Politeski purchased 10,000 shares of TransAlta stock. The stock was bought at an average cost of C$18.15 per share, for a total transaction of C$181,500.00.
• On Wednesday, May 13th, Michael Politeski acquired 10,000 shares of TransAlta stock. The shares were purchased at an average price of C$17.24 per share, with a total value of C$172,400.00.

TransAlta Stock Up 2.2%

TA traded up C$0.38 during trading on Tuesday, reaching C$17.94. 860,073 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,560,479. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is C$19.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$18.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 238.01, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.61. TransAlta Co. has a fifty-two week low of C$15.62 and a fifty-two week high of C$25.03. The stock has a market cap of C$5.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -57.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of -0.07 and a beta of 0.73.

TransAlta (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The company reported C$0.18 earnings per share for the quarter. TransAlta had a negative return on equity of 1.50% and a negative net margin of 1.02%.The company had revenue of C$507.00 million for the quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on TA. Desjardins raised their price objective on shares of TransAlta from C$18.50 to C$19.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 3rd. ATB Cormark Capital Markets set a C$28.00 price target on shares of TransAlta and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. National Bank Financial raised their price target on shares of TransAlta from C$22.00 to C$24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Scotiabank raised shares of TransAlta to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a C$24.00 price objective on shares of TransAlta and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, TransAlta has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of C$25.00.

About TransAlta

TransAlta owns, operates and develops a diverse fleet of electrical power generation assets in Canada, the United States and Australia with a focus on long-term shareholder value. TransAlta provides municipalities, medium and large industries, businesses and utility customers with affordable, energy efficient and reliable power. Today, TransAlta is one of Canada’s largest producers of wind power and Alberta’s largest producer of thermal generation and hydro-electric power. For over 114 years, TransAlta has been a responsible operator and a proud member of the communities where we operate and where our employees work and live.