TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) Downgraded to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Friday.

TAC has been the subject of several other research reports. Cibc World Mkts raised TransAlta from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. CIBC upgraded shares of TransAlta from a “neutral” rating to an “outperformer” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $19.50 in a research note on Tuesday. Desjardins reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Scotiabank cut shares of TransAlta from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.50.

TransAlta Trading Down 3.6 %

NYSE TAC opened at $10.88 on Friday. TransAlta has a 52 week low of $5.94 and a 52 week high of $14.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $12.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.39 and a beta of 0.83.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported ($0.16) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.28). TransAlta had a net margin of 5.72% and a return on equity of 17.46%. The firm had revenue of $484.60 million during the quarter. As a group, analysts anticipate that TransAlta will post 0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.0458 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This is an increase from TransAlta’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. This represents a $0.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio is 48.65%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in TAC. Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of TransAlta by 6.9% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 53,803 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $557,000 after purchasing an additional 3,492 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in TransAlta by 326.3% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 18,064 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $187,000 after buying an additional 13,827 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of TransAlta by 23.6% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 26,207 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 5,008 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its stake in shares of TransAlta by 192.5% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 34,081 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $346,000 after buying an additional 22,431 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new position in shares of TransAlta during the third quarter worth about $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

TransAlta Company Profile

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.