TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) Receives $19.88 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Key Points

• TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) has received a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from analysts, with the average twelve-month price target set at $19.8750.
• Several large investors, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., have significantly increased their stakes in TransAlta, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.
• The company has recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.065 per share, reflecting positive growth compared to its previous dividend of $0.05.

TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA has earned an average rating of "Buy" from the seven research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $19.8750.

TAC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. National Bankshares reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Scotiabank raised TransAlta from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $16.00 to $20.00 in a report on Friday, July 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on TransAlta from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen raised TransAlta from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. Finally, TD Securities reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $20.00 price objective (up from $19.00) on shares of TransAlta in a report on Tuesday, August 5th.

TransAlta Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TAC traded up $0.18 during trading on Thursday, hitting $12.52. The stock had a trading volume of 729,753 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,583,809. TransAlta has a 12-month low of $7.82 and a 12-month high of $14.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.81 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.98. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.24.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $451.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $473.94 million. TransAlta had a negative return on equity of 2.06% and a negative net margin of 6.79%. On average, equities research analysts expect that TransAlta will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 1st will be paid a $0.065 dividend. This is a boost from TransAlta's previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. TransAlta's dividend payout ratio is presently -42.86%.

Institutional Trading of TransAlta

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in TAC. Sowell Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in TransAlta by 6.0% during the second quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 23,892 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 1,359 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its stake in TransAlta by 145,600.0% during the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,914 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 2,912 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its stake in TransAlta by 6.9% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 51,336 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $554,000 after buying an additional 3,322 shares during the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC boosted its stake in TransAlta by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 69,004 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $976,000 after buying an additional 3,499 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in TransAlta by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 126,761 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,811,000 after buying an additional 4,140 shares during 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.