BMO Capital Markets Issues Positive Forecast for TransAlta (TSE:TA) Stock Price

TransAlta (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) had its price objective boosted by BMO Capital Markets from C$17.00 to C$22.00 in a report released on Monday morning,BayStreet.CA reports.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on TA. Scotiabank raised TransAlta to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. National Bankshares increased their price objective 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. Desjardins cut TransAlta from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of TransAlta from C$14.00 to C$16.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, TD Securities lifted their price target on shares of TransAlta from C$16.00 to C$18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, TransAlta has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of C$17.00.

TransAlta Stock Performance

TSE:TA opened at C$19.85 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 219.87. The company has a market capitalization of C$5.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of -0.07 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of C$15.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$12.35. TransAlta has a twelve month low of C$8.22 and a twelve month high of C$19.87.

TransAlta Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. TransAlta’s payout ratio is currently 12.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John Harry Kousinioris sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$17.67, for a total transaction of C$795,150.00. Also, Senior Officer Jane Nyla Fedoretz sold 3,602 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$18.84, for a total transaction of C$67,861.68. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 179,584 shares of company stock valued at $2,833,709. 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.