TransAlta (TSE:TA) Lowered to Sector Perform Rating by Scotiabank

Scotiabank cut shares of TransAlta (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has C$21.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of C$19.00.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. TD Securities upped their price target on TransAlta from C$16.00 to C$18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Desjardins raised their target price on TransAlta from C$15.50 to C$16.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of TransAlta from C$17.00 to C$22.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of TransAlta from C$14.00 to C$16.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts lowered shares of TransAlta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$18.71.

TransAlta Stock Performance

TA opened at C$16.72 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of C$4.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.80, a PEG ratio of -0.07 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is C$18.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$14.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 219.87. TransAlta has a 52-week low of C$8.22 and a 52-week high of C$21.22.

TransAlta (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported C($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of C$0.18 by C($0.30). TransAlta had a return on equity of 32.01% and a net margin of 19.50%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John Harry Kousinioris sold 69,982 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$15.15, for a total value of C$1,060,227.30. Also, Senior Officer Jane Nyla Fedoretz sold 3,602 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$18.84, for a total value of C$67,861.68. In the last three months, insiders have sold 204,763 shares of company stock worth $3,478,670. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

TransAlta Company Profile

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.