TransAlta (TSE:TA) Stock Price Up 3.4%

TransAlta Co. (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) rose 3.4% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as C$13.10 and last traded at C$13.05. Approximately 46,945 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 95% from the average daily volume of 975,482 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$12.62.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of TransAlta from C$16.00 to C$17.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. CIBC dropped their target price on shares of TransAlta from C$16.50 to C$15.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, National Bankshares upped their price objective on shares of TransAlta from C$14.00 to C$15.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of C$15.43.

TransAlta Price Performance

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 company has a 50 day moving average of C$11.30 and a 200-day moving average of C$9.99. The stock has a market capitalization of C$3.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.01, a PEG ratio of -0.07 and a beta of 0.90.

TransAlta (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported C$0.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of C$0.07 by C$0.11. TransAlta had a return on equity of 32.01% and a net margin of 19.50%. The firm had revenue of C$582.00 million during the quarter. Sell-side analysts predict that TransAlta Co. will post 0.4504537 EPS for the current year.

TransAlta Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Sunday, September 1st will be issued a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.82%. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.63%.

Insider Transactions at TransAlta

In other news, Senior Officer Kerry Lynn O’reilly sold 48,833 shares of the 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. In related news, Senior Officer Kerry Lynn O’reilly sold 48,833 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 100,217 shares of company stock valued at $1,118,820 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.