Analysts Set TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) Price Target at $19.50

TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the four ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $19.50.

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. CIBC raised shares of TransAlta from a "neutral" rating to an "outperformer" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $19.50 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Scotiabank cut TransAlta from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com lowered TransAlta from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Cibc World Mkts upgraded TransAlta from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on TransAlta in a research note on Friday, April 11th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock.

TransAlta Price Performance

Shares of TAC traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $8.60. The company's stock had a trading volume of 418,721 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,144,416. 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 has a one year low of $5.94 and a one year high of $14.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.98 and a beta of 0.72. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $9.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.08.

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

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 1st will be given a $0.0458 dividend. This represents a $0.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This is a positive change from TransAlta's previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. TransAlta's payout ratio is 43.90%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TransAlta

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tobam lifted its position in shares of TransAlta by 239.2% in the 1st quarter. Tobam now owns 10,943 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $102,000 after purchasing an additional 7,717 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in TransAlta during the first quarter valued at $207,000. NBC Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of TransAlta by 145,600.0% in the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,914 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 2,912 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of TransAlta by 321.7% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 405,715 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,735,000 after purchasing an additional 309,509 shares during the period. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of TransAlta by 65.7% during the 4th quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 82,850 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,171,000 after purchasing an additional 32,850 shares in the last quarter. 59.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.