TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) Upgraded at CIBC

CIBC upgraded shares of TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) from a neutral rating to an outperformer rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. CIBC currently has $19.50 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $23.00.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on TAC. Scotiabank downgraded shares of TransAlta from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Desjardins reissued a “hold” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Cibc World Mkts cut shares of TransAlta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of TransAlta from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.50.

TransAlta Stock Up 6.8 %

TAC opened at $11.28 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94. TransAlta has a 1-year low of $5.94 and a 1-year high of $14.64. The company has a market capitalization of $3.36 billion, a PE ratio of 30.47 and a beta of 0.83. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $12.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $10.94.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported ($0.16) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.28). TransAlta had a return on equity of 17.46% and a net margin of 5.72%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that TransAlta will post 0.5 EPS for the current year.

TransAlta Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Saturday, March 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.0423 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.17 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. TransAlta’s payout ratio is 48.65%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TransAlta

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rubric Capital Management LP grew its stake in TransAlta by 20.0% during the third quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 5,622,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $58,254,000 after acquiring an additional 935,803 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in TransAlta by 9.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,593,023 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,613,000 after acquiring an additional 408,184 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in TransAlta during the third quarter valued at $998,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. purchased a new position in TransAlta during the third quarter valued at $518,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of TransAlta in the 3rd quarter worth $1,812,000. 59.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About TransAlta

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.