TransAlta Co. (TA) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.06 on January 1st

TransAlta Co. (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 23rd,Zacks Dividends reports. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 1st will be given a dividend of 0.06 per share on Wednesday, January 1st. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th.

TransAlta Stock Performance

TA opened at C$15.29 on Wednesday. TransAlta has a 1-year low of C$8.22 and a 1-year high of C$15.37. The stock has a market cap of C$4.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.05, a P/E/G ratio of -0.07 and a beta of 0.93. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is C$14.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$11.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 219.87, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John Harry Kousinioris sold 69,982 shares of TransAlta stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$15.15, for a total value of C$1,060,227.30. Also, Senior Officer Jane Nyla Fedoretz sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$13.92, for a total transaction of C$278,400.00. Insiders have sold 114,988 shares of company stock valued at $1,716,451 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on TransAlta from C$16.00 to C$17.00 in a report on Thursday, September 5th. TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of TransAlta from C$16.00 to C$18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on TransAlta from C$14.00 to C$16.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Desjardins lowered TransAlta from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. 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 research note on Friday, August 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, TransAlta has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$16.17.

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.