TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at Desjardins

Desjardins initiated coverage on shares of TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, StockNewsAPI reports. The firm issued a buy rating on the utilities provider's stock.

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of TransAlta from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th.

TransAlta Stock Up 4.1 %

Shares of TransAlta stock traded up $0.41 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $10.50. The company had a trading volume of 1,021,922 shares, compared to its average volume of 745,437. The company has a market cap of $3.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.95 and a beta of 0.92. The firm's fifty day moving average is $9.72 and its 200-day moving average is $8.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.43, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.84. TransAlta has a fifty-two week low of $5.94 and a fifty-two week high of $10.73.

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

TransAlta Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 1st will be given a $0.044 dividend. This represents a $0.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. TransAlta's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.26%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new position in shares of TransAlta in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 22,431 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 5,008 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 326.3% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 18,064 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $187,000 after acquiring an additional 13,827 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 3,492 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.