TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) Trading 6.9% Higher – Here’s Why

TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA)’s share price rose 6.9% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $11.20 and last traded at $11.29. Approximately 229,881 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 2,011,030 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.56.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

TransAlta Trading Down 3.6 %

The stock has a market cap of $3.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.53 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94. The business has a 50-day moving average of $12.65 and a 200-day moving average of $10.96.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported ($0.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by ($0.28). TransAlta had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 18.47%. The firm had revenue of $484.60 million for the quarter. As a group, research analysts forecast that TransAlta Co. will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Sunday, June 1st will be issued a $0.0458 dividend. This is a positive change from TransAlta’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. This represents a $0.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. TransAlta’s payout ratio is 43.90%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TransAlta

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of TransAlta by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 27,627 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $391,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of TransAlta by 2.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 122,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,277,000 after purchasing an additional 2,524 shares during the period. Tobam bought a new position in shares of TransAlta in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Creative Planning raised its position in shares of TransAlta by 6.9% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 53,803 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $557,000 after purchasing an additional 3,492 shares during the period. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of TransAlta by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 69,004 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $976,000 after purchasing an additional 3,499 shares during the period. 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.