TransAlta Co. (TSE:TA) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of TransAlta Co. (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eight brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is C$18.71.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on TA shares. CIBC downgraded TransAlta from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from C$17.00 to C$23.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. TD Securities boosted their price target on shares of TransAlta from C$16.00 to C$18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Cibc World Mkts lowered shares of TransAlta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank cut shares of TransAlta from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from C$19.00 to C$21.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of TransAlta from C$14.00 to C$16.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 6th.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John Harry Kousinioris sold 35,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$20.73, for a total transaction of C$729,260.67. Also, Senior Officer Jane Nyla Fedoretz sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$15.11, for a total transaction of C$377,750.00. Insiders have sold 204,763 shares of company stock valued at $3,478,670 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

TransAlta Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of TransAlta stock opened at C$15.50 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of C$4.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.16, a PEG ratio of -0.07 and a beta of 0.93. The stock’s 50-day moving average is C$18.69 and its 200 day moving average is C$14.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 219.87, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.62. TransAlta has a one year low of C$8.22 and a one year high of C$21.22.

TransAlta (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported C($0.12) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of C$0.18 by C($0.30). TransAlta had a return on equity of 32.01% and a net margin of 19.50%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share.

TransAlta Company Profile

TransAlta Corporation engages in the development, production, and sale of electric energy. It operates through Hydro, Wind and Solar, Gas, Energy Transition, and Energy Marketing segments. The Hydro segment holds interest of approximately 922 megawatts (MW) of owned hydroelectric generating capacity located in Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario.