TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) Cut to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday.

Separately, Desjardins reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Wednesday.

TransAlta Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of TAC opened at $10.30 on Wednesday. TransAlta has a fifty-two week low of $5.94 and a fifty-two week high of $11.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a PE ratio of 27.84 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $9.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $8.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.74.

TransAlta Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 1st will be paid a $0.044 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.71%. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.95%.

Institutional Trading of TransAlta

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TAC. PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. acquired a new stake in TransAlta in the third quarter worth $2,573,000. Metis Global Partners LLC bought a new stake in TransAlta in the 3rd quarter valued at about $360,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new position in TransAlta in the 3rd quarter worth about $194,000. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of TransAlta during the third quarter valued at approximately $130,000. Finally, Tacita Capital Inc boosted its position in shares of TransAlta by 11.7% during the third quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 245,081 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,544,000 after buying an additional 25,626 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 59.00% 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.