Analysts Set TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) PT at $19.83

TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA has received a consensus rating of "Buy" from the five ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $19.83.

TAC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of TransAlta from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of TransAlta from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of TransAlta from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 14th. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of TransAlta from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and increased their target price for the company from $16.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Friday, July 18th.

TransAlta Stock Performance

Shares of TransAlta stock traded up $0.35 during trading on Friday, reaching $12.64. The company's stock had a trading volume of 286,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,293,737. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.19. The business's 50-day moving average price is $10.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.35. TransAlta has a 52 week low of $6.78 and a 52 week high of $14.64. The firm has a market cap of $3.75 billion, a PE ratio of -629.94 and a beta of 0.76.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $526.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $509.31 million. TransAlta had a negative return on equity of 1.64% and a net margin of 0.01%. Equities analysts forecast that TransAlta will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TransAlta

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sowell Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of TransAlta by 6.0% during the second quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 23,892 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 1,359 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of TransAlta by 145,600.0% during the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,914 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 2,912 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 69,004 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $976,000 after acquiring an additional 3,499 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 126,761 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,811,000 after acquiring an additional 4,140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 48,666.7% during the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 4,389 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 4,380 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.00% of the company's stock.

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.