Brokerages Set TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) PT at $21.33

Shares of TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $21.3333.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on TAC. Zacks Research upgraded shares of TransAlta from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $24.00 price target on shares of TransAlta in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, National Bank Financial raised TransAlta from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th.

TransAlta Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of TransAlta stock opened at $13.46 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.65 and a beta of 0.76. TransAlta has a 52-week low of $7.82 and a 52-week high of $17.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.54, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.73. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $13.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.86.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.09). TransAlta had a positive return on equity of 10.00% and a negative net margin of 7.51%.The business had revenue of $436.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $493.39 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that TransAlta will post 0.41 EPS for the current year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $0.07 per share. This is a boost from TransAlta’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -40.43%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TransAlta

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rubric Capital Management LP increased its holdings in TransAlta by 32.9% during the 2nd quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 15,948,451 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $172,084,000 after acquiring an additional 3,948,451 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of TransAlta during the 4th quarter valued at $45,298,000. Sculptor Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of TransAlta during the 4th quarter valued at $37,958,000. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 27.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,295,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $168,163,000 after purchasing an additional 2,870,026 shares during the period. Finally, Aventail Capital Group LP purchased a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the third quarter worth $38,633,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

About TransAlta

TransAlta Corporation, originally founded in 1909 as Calgary Power Company Ltd., is a publicly traded energy company specializing in the development, ownership and operation of power generation and transmission assets. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, TransAlta has grown from its early hydroelectric roots into a diversified energy provider with a multi-fuel generating fleet.

The company’s core business activities encompass power generation, asset management and energy trading services.