TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) Stock Rating Raised to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Thursday,Zacks reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on TAC. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of TransAlta from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.50.

TransAlta Trading Down 0.8%

TAC traded down $0.10 during trading on Thursday, hitting $13.02. 1,138,061 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,349,584. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.64, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.84. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.95. The firm has a market cap of $4.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 118.34 and a beta of 0.73. TransAlta has a 1 year low of $11.38 and a 1 year high of $15.98.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.08. TransAlta had a positive return on equity of 8.85% and a negative net margin of 2.76%. The business had revenue of $376.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $366.40 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that TransAlta will post 0.28 EPS for the current year.

TransAlta Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of C$0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 1st. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio is 181.82%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On TransAlta

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TAC. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd bought a new position in TransAlta in the second quarter worth about $29,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 54.7% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,642 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 1,642 shares in the last quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY bought a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the 3rd quarter valued at about $128,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the 2nd quarter valued at about $159,000. Finally, Lee Financial Co purchased a new position in shares of TransAlta in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $158,000. Institutional investors own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

TransAlta Company Profile

TransAlta Corporation is a Canada-based power generation and wholesale marketing company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. The company develops, owns and operates a diversified portfolio of electricity-generating facilities, including hydroelectric, wind, solar, natural gas and coal-fired power assets.

TransAlta supplies electricity to utilities, commercial and industrial customers, and wholesale markets. Its activities include power generation, energy marketing, asset management and the development of renewable energy projects.