TransAlta’s (TAC) “Outperform” Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank Of Canada

Royal Bank Of Canada reissued their outperform rating on shares of TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank Of Canada currently has a $24.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on TAC. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Zacks Research upgraded TransAlta from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, National Bank Financial raised TransAlta from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, TransAlta presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.33.

TransAlta Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE TAC opened at $12.94 on Tuesday. TransAlta has a 12-month low of $7.82 and a 12-month high of $17.88. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.54. The company has a market cap of $3.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.54 and a beta of 0.77.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.09). TransAlta had a negative net margin of 7.51% and a positive return on equity of 10.00%. The company had revenue of $436.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $493.39 million. On average, research analysts expect that TransAlta will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This is a boost from TransAlta’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. TransAlta’s payout ratio is -40.43%.

Institutional Trading of TransAlta

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in TAC. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of TransAlta by 27.8% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 208,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,954,000 after purchasing an additional 45,478 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in TransAlta by 3.5% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 152,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,660,000 after buying an additional 5,214 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in TransAlta by 6.9% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 51,336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $554,000 after buying an additional 3,322 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP boosted its holdings in TransAlta by 41.8% during the second quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 18,033 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $195,000 after buying an additional 5,312 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of TransAlta by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 309,139 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,328,000 after buying an additional 8,907 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

About TransAlta

TransAlta Corporation, originally founded in 1909 as Calgary Power Company Ltd., is a publicly traded energy company specializing in the development, ownership and operation of power generation and transmission assets. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, TransAlta has grown from its early hydroelectric roots into a diversified energy provider with a multi-fuel generating fleet.

The company’s core business activities encompass power generation, asset management and energy trading services.