TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) Rating Increased to Buy at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Free Report) TSE: TA from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

A number of other research firms have also commented on TAC. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on TransAlta from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. CIBC raised TransAlta from a "neutral" rating to an "outperformer" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $19.50 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded TransAlta from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Cibc World Mkts raised TransAlta from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, TransAlta presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $19.75.

TransAlta Price Performance

TAC stock traded down $0.31 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $11.10. 2,592,844 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,249,079. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a PE ratio of 27.07 and a beta of 0.74. TransAlta has a 52 week low of $6.78 and a 52 week high of $14.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $9.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.76.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last released 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 company had revenue of $526.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $509.31 million. As a group, analysts expect that TransAlta will post 0.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of TransAlta

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 199.1% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 16,462,892 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $153,813,000 after acquiring an additional 10,957,858 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,291,968 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $96,055,000 after acquiring an additional 62,145 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in TransAlta by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 9,290,110 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $131,222,000 after buying an additional 716,139 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in TransAlta by 79.7% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,255,923 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $116,764,000 after buying an additional 3,662,900 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in TransAlta by 638.9% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 6,913,431 shares during the period. 59.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.