TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) Rating Increased to Hold at Wall Street Zen

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on TAC. CIBC upgraded shares of TransAlta from a "neutral" rating to an "outperformer" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $19.50 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of TransAlta from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of TransAlta from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of TransAlta from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $19.75.

TransAlta Trading Down 2.7%

Shares of TAC traded down $0.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $11.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,592,844 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,245,733. The stock has a market cap of $3.29 billion, a PE ratio of 27.07 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94. TransAlta has a 52 week low of $6.78 and a 52 week high of $14.64. The company's fifty day moving average price is $9.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.76.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $509.31 million. On average, analysts predict that TransAlta will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of TransAlta

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 145,600.0% during the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,914 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 2,912 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 48,666.7% in the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 4,389 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 4,380 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of TransAlta in the fourth quarter worth approximately $147,000. Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of TransAlta in the fourth quarter worth approximately $150,000. Finally, Tobam boosted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 239.2% in the first quarter. Tobam now owns 10,943 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 7,717 shares during 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.