TransAlta (TSE:TA) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by Desjardins

Desjardins lowered shares of TransAlta (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) from a moderate buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning, Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. TD Securities raised their price objective on TransAlta from C$16.00 to C$18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. National Bankshares raised their price target on TransAlta from C$14.00 to C$15.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on TransAlta from C$14.00 to C$16.00 in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of TransAlta from C$16.00 to C$17.00 in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, CIBC decreased their price target on shares of TransAlta from C$16.50 to C$15.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, TransAlta currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$16.17.

TransAlta Stock Performance

TA opened at C$14.53 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 219.87, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market capitalization of C$4.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.65, a PEG ratio of -0.07 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a fifty day moving average of C$13.45 and a 200 day moving average of C$11.14. TransAlta has a fifty-two week low of C$8.22 and a fifty-two week high of C$15.37.

TransAlta Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Sunday, December 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. TransAlta’s payout ratio is presently 12.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Senior Officer Jane Nyla Fedoretz sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$11.45, for a total value of C$114,500.00. In related news, Senior Officer Kerry Lynn O’reilly sold 48,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$10.99, for a total transaction of C$536,674.67. Also, Senior Officer Jane Nyla Fedoretz sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$11.45, for a total value of C$114,500.00. Insiders sold 78,839 shares of company stock valued at $929,648 over the last three months. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.