TransAlta Co. (TSE:TA) Receives C$18.33 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of TransAlta Co. (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eight analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is C$18.33.

TA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. TD Securities increased their price objective on TransAlta from C$16.00 to C$18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on TransAlta from C$14.00 to C$16.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Cibc World Mkts lowered TransAlta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Desjardins increased their price objective on TransAlta from C$15.50 to C$16.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on TransAlta from C$17.00 to C$22.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th.

TransAlta Stock Up 4.3 %

TA opened at C$19.73 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 219.87, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company has a market capitalization of C$5.88 billion, a PE ratio of 10.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of -0.07 and a beta of 0.93. The business has a 50-day moving average of C$17.80 and a 200-day moving average of C$13.99. TransAlta has a fifty-two week low of C$8.22 and a fifty-two week high of C$20.98.

TransAlta Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 1st were issued a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at TransAlta

In other news, Senior Officer Jane Nyla Fedoretz sold 10,000 shares of TransAlta stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$19.41, for a total transaction of C$194,100.00. Also, Director John Harry Kousinioris sold 35,179 shares of TransAlta stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$20.73, for a total value of C$729,260.67. Insiders have sold 204,763 shares of company stock valued at $3,478,670 in the last 90 days. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.