TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $19.75.

TAC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised TransAlta from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on TransAlta from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised TransAlta from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On TransAlta

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. NBC Securities Inc. raised its stake in TransAlta by 145,600.0% in the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,914 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 2,912 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in TransAlta by 48,666.7% in the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 4,389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 4,380 shares during the period. Tobam increased its stake in shares of TransAlta by 239.2% during the 1st quarter. Tobam now owns 10,943 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $102,000 after acquiring an additional 7,717 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of TransAlta during the 1st quarter worth about $119,000. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the first quarter worth approximately $146,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

TransAlta Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of TransAlta stock opened at $11.00 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -549.83 and a beta of 0.74. TransAlta has a 52-week low of $6.78 and a 52-week high of $14.64. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.19.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.02). TransAlta had a net margin of 0.01% and a negative return on equity of 1.64%. The business had revenue of $526.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $509.31 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that TransAlta will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

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.