TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) Now Covered by Jefferies Financial Group

Stock analysts at Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm set a "hold" rating on the utilities provider's stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of TransAlta from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com cut TransAlta from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. CIBC raised TransAlta from a "neutral" rating to an "outperformer" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $23.00 to $19.50 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered shares of TransAlta from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $19.50.

TransAlta Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of TAC traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $8.60. 418,721 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,144,416. The business's 50-day moving average price is $9.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.08. TransAlta has a 1 year low of $5.94 and a 1 year high of $14.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.98 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported ($0.16) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.28). The firm had revenue of $484.60 million for the quarter. TransAlta had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 18.47%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that TransAlta will post 0.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. NBC Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of TransAlta by 145,600.0% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,914 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 2,912 shares in the last quarter. Tobam acquired a new position in shares of TransAlta during the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new stake in TransAlta during the fourth quarter worth $145,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC acquired a new position in TransAlta in the 4th quarter valued at about $147,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the 4th quarter valued at $150,000. Hedge funds and other 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.