TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) Trading 12.5% Higher - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• TransAlta Corporation's shares increased by 12.5%, trading as high as $17.31, after closing at $15.59.
• Analysts have set a consensus price target of $19.88, with most ratings ranging from "Buy" to "Moderate Buy."
• The company recently declared an increased quarterly dividend of $0.065 per share, raising its annualized dividend yield to 1.5%.

TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA shares traded up 12.5% on Monday . The company traded as high as $17.31 and last traded at $17.54. 1,645,153 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 8% from the average session volume of 1,526,845 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.59.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on TAC. National Bankshares restated an "outperform" rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Monday, October 6th. TD Securities restated a "buy" rating and set a $20.00 target price (up previously from $19.00) on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Zacks Research lowered shares of TransAlta from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $19.88.

TransAlta Price Performance

The company's 50-day moving average price is $12.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.07. The company has a market cap of $5.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -41.23 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.98.

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

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 1st were paid a $0.065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. This is an increase from TransAlta's previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. TransAlta's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -45.24%.

Institutional Trading of TransAlta

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in TAC. NBC Securities Inc. lifted 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 valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 2,912 shares during the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in TransAlta by 55.3% during the first quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 22,533 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $211,000 after purchasing an additional 8,019 shares during the last quarter. Louisbourg Investments Inc. lifted its stake in TransAlta by 9.8% during the first quarter. Louisbourg Investments Inc. now owns 267,100 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,495,000 after purchasing an additional 23,800 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. acquired a new stake in TransAlta during the first quarter valued at approximately $638,000. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP lifted its stake in TransAlta by 86.6% during the first quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 942,962 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $8,802,000 after purchasing an additional 437,511 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.