TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) Now Covered by Desjardins

Stock analysts at Desjardins began coverage on shares of TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, StockNewsAPI reports. The firm set a “buy” rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded TransAlta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th.

TransAlta Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:TAC opened at $10.09 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $9.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $8.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.43. TransAlta has a 12-month low of $5.94 and a 12-month high of $10.73. The firm has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.68 and a beta of 0.92.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $425.37 million for the quarter. TransAlta had a return on equity of 47.71% and a net margin of 18.41%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.17 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that TransAlta will post 0.69 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of TransAlta

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the third quarter valued at $42,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 22,431 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in TransAlta by 23.6% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 26,207 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 5,008 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 13,827 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of TransAlta by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 53,803 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $557,000 after acquiring an additional 3,492 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.