TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA has received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the five analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $19.75.

A number of brokerages recently commented on TAC. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on TransAlta from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered TransAlta from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on TransAlta in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. CIBC raised TransAlta from a "neutral" rating to an "outperformer" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $23.00 to $19.50 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts raised TransAlta from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TransAlta

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TAC. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in TransAlta by 199.1% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 16,462,892 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $153,813,000 after purchasing an additional 10,957,858 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in TransAlta by 638.9% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 7,995,489 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $112,936,000 after purchasing an additional 6,913,431 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new position in TransAlta during the 4th quarter valued at about $67,038,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in TransAlta by 512.0% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,870,226 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $68,880,000 after purchasing an additional 4,074,395 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in TransAlta by 280.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,385,966 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $76,211,000 after purchasing an additional 3,969,037 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.00% of the company's stock.

TransAlta Trading Down 2.4%

TransAlta stock traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $10.14. 1,310,230 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,193,655. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $8.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.77. TransAlta has a twelve month low of $6.78 and a twelve month high of $14.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a PE ratio of 24.73 and a beta of 0.71.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.02). TransAlta had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 18.47%. The firm had revenue of $526.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $509.31 million. Research analysts predict that TransAlta will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

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.