TransAlta (TSE:TA) Cut to “Hold” at Scotiabank

Scotiabank downgraded shares of TransAlta (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. CIBC downgraded TransAlta from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from C$17.00 to C$23.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Cibc World Mkts cut shares of TransAlta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on TransAlta from C$14.00 to C$16.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Desjardins boosted their price target on shares of TransAlta from C$15.50 to C$16.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of TransAlta from C$17.00 to C$22.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, TransAlta has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$18.33.

TransAlta Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of TransAlta stock opened at C$19.35 on Thursday. TransAlta has a 12-month low of C$8.22 and a 12-month high of C$21.22. The company has a market cap of C$5.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.18, a PEG ratio of -0.07 and a beta of 0.93. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is C$18.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$14.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 219.87.

TransAlta (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported C($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of C$0.18 by C($0.30). TransAlta had a net margin of 19.50% and a return on equity of 32.01%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS.

Insider Activity at TransAlta

In other news, Senior Officer Jane Nyla Fedoretz sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$15.11, for a total transaction of C$377,750.00. Also, Director John Harry Kousinioris sold 45,000 shares of TransAlta stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$17.67, for a total transaction of C$795,150.00. Insiders sold a total of 204,763 shares of company stock valued at $3,478,670 over the last ninety days. 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.