TransAlta Co. (TSE:TA) Receives C$18.33 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of TransAlta Co. (TSE:TA - Get Free Report) NYSE: TAC have received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eight analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$18.33.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on TA shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on TransAlta from C$14.00 to C$16.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of TransAlta to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Cibc World Mkts cut shares of TransAlta from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. CIBC downgraded shares of TransAlta from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price target for the stock from C$17.00 to C$23.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of TransAlta from C$17.00 to C$22.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th.

TransAlta Stock Performance

TA stock traded up C$0.03 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching C$18.71. 1,470,254 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,399,296. The firm has a market capitalization of C$5.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of -0.07 and a beta of 0.93. The business has a 50-day moving average price of C$17.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$13.92. TransAlta has a one year low of C$8.22 and a one year high of C$20.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 219.87, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

TransAlta Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Sunday, December 1st were given a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. TransAlta's payout ratio is currently 12.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at TransAlta

In other TransAlta news, Senior Officer Jane Nyla Fedoretz sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$15.11, for a total value of C$377,750.00. Also, Director John Harry Kousinioris sold 69,982 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$15.15, for a total value of C$1,060,227.30. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 204,763 shares of company stock valued at $3,478,670. Corporate insiders own 0.21% 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.