TransAlta (TSE:TA) Upgraded by Desjardins to Moderate Buy Rating

Desjardins upgraded shares of TransAlta (TSE:TAFree Report) (NYSE:TAC) to a moderate buy rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning, Zacks.com reports.

TA has been the topic of a number of other reports. 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 research note on Friday, August 23rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on TransAlta from C$16.00 to C$17.00 in a report on Thursday, September 5th. CIBC cut their target price on TransAlta from C$16.50 to C$15.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, TD Securities upped their price target on TransAlta from C$14.00 to C$16.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, TransAlta presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of C$15.50.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on TransAlta

TransAlta Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of TSE:TA opened at C$14.36 on Tuesday. TransAlta has a fifty-two week low of C$8.22 and a fifty-two week high of C$14.75. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is C$13.26 and its 200 day moving average price is C$11.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 219.87. The stock has a market cap of C$4.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of -0.07 and a beta of 0.93.

TransAlta (TSE:TAGet Free Report) (NYSE:TAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported C$0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of C$0.07 by C$0.11. The business had revenue of C$582.00 million for the quarter. TransAlta had a net margin of 19.50% and a return on equity of 32.01%.

TransAlta Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 1st will be given a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.63%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Senior Officer Jane Nyla Fedoretz sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$13.92, for a total transaction of C$278,400.00. In other TransAlta news, Senior Officer Jane Nyla Fedoretz sold 20,000 shares of TransAlta stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$13.92, for a total value of C$278,400.00. Also, Senior Officer Kerry Lynn O’reilly sold 48,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$10.99, for a total transaction of C$536,674.67. In the last three months, insiders sold 120,217 shares of company stock valued at $1,397,220. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

About TransAlta

(Get Free Report)

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.

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Analyst Recommendations for TransAlta (TSE:TA)

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