TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) Stock Price Crosses Above 200-Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA)’s stock price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $13.15 and traded as high as $14.02. TransAlta shares last traded at $13.9760, with a volume of 1,392,565 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on TAC shares. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Scotiabank raised TransAlta to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. TD Cowen started coverage on TransAlta in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised TransAlta from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, TransAlta presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.00.

TransAlta Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.61. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $13.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.16. The stock has a market cap of $4.46 billion, a P/E ratio of -26.14 and a beta of 0.69.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $406.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $436.36 million. TransAlta had a negative net margin of 9.46% and a positive return on equity of 9.52%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in TAC. PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab boosted its position in shares of TransAlta by 130.8% during the second quarter. PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab now owns 40,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $560,000 after purchasing an additional 22,966 shares in the last quarter. Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC bought a new position in TransAlta in the first quarter worth $34,128,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in TransAlta by 54.7% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,642 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 1,642 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in TransAlta by 17.9% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,428,195 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,709,000 after buying an additional 217,200 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in TransAlta during the first quarter valued at $5,448,000. 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.