TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) Raised to Outperformer at CIBC

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA was upgraded by equities research analysts at CIBC from a "neutral" rating to an "outperformer" rating in a research note issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has a $19.50 price objective on the utilities provider's stock, down from their prior price objective of $23.00. CIBC's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 79.31% from the stock's previous close.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on TAC. Desjardins reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Cibc World Mkts downgraded shares of TransAlta from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of TransAlta from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded shares of TransAlta from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $19.50.

TransAlta Trading Down 3.6 %

NYSE TAC traded down $0.41 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $10.88. The stock had a trading volume of 5,542,753 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,180,275. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.39 and a beta of 0.83. TransAlta has a one year low of $5.94 and a one year high of $14.64. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.96.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported ($0.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.28). The firm had revenue of $484.60 million during the quarter. TransAlta had a return on equity of 17.46% and a net margin of 5.72%. Sell-side analysts predict that TransAlta will post 0.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TransAlta

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rubric Capital Management LP increased its holdings in TransAlta by 20.0% during the third quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 5,622,961 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $58,254,000 after buying an additional 935,803 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in TransAlta by 9.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,593,023 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $47,613,000 after buying an additional 408,184 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in TransAlta during the third quarter valued at approximately $998,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. purchased a new position in TransAlta during the third quarter valued at approximately $518,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in TransAlta during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,812,000. 59.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.