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

TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the nine analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have assigned a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $24.50.

Several brokerages have issued reports on TAC. Zacks Research raised TransAlta from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of TransAlta from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Monday, August 3rd.

TransAlta Trading Up 4.9%

Shares of NYSE TAC opened at $13.64 on Friday. TransAlta has a 1 year low of $11.38 and a 1 year high of $15.98. The stock has a market cap of $4.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.31 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $12.49 and a 200 day moving average of $12.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $376.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $366.40 million. TransAlta had a return on equity of 14.75% and a net margin of 2.24%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that TransAlta will post 0.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransAlta Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 1st will be given a dividend of C$0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 1st. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. TransAlta’s payout ratio is presently 181.82%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TransAlta

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

TransAlta Company Profile

TransAlta Corporation is a Canadian electric power generator that develops, owns and operates facilities producing electricity for wholesale markets. Its generation portfolio includes hydroelectric, wind, solar and thermal power, including natural gas-fired facilities.

Founded in 1911 as Calgary Power, the company has a long history of supplying electricity in Western Canada. TransAlta’s operations and power-generation assets span Canada, the United States and Australia.

The company also provides energy marketing and related services, managing and selling electricity and other energy products from its generation portfolio.