TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

TransAlta Price Performance

NYSE TAC opened at $8.50 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $7.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $7.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.43, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.48 and a beta of 0.88. TransAlta has a 52-week low of $5.94 and a 52-week high of $10.04.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $425.37 million during the quarter. TransAlta had a net margin of 18.41% and a return on equity of 47.71%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.17 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that TransAlta will post 0.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TransAlta

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in TransAlta by 25.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,498,451 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $87,242,000 after acquiring an additional 2,116,907 shares in the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP raised its position in TransAlta by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 5,145,630 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,760,000 after acquiring an additional 740,786 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in TransAlta by 76.4% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,387,290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,458,000 after acquiring an additional 1,899,671 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in TransAlta by 23.4% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 4,199,245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,612,000 after acquiring an additional 796,503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in TransAlta by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,902,599 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,615,000 after acquiring an additional 98,334 shares in the last quarter. 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.