TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) Upgraded at National Bank Financial

National Bank Financial upgraded shares of TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Zacks Research raised shares of TransAlta from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.33.

TransAlta Stock Performance

Shares of TAC opened at $12.94 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.54. TransAlta has a 52-week low of $7.82 and a 52-week high of $17.88. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.84. The company has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a PE ratio of -27.54 and a beta of 0.77.

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

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This is a positive change from TransAlta’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio is -40.43%.

Institutional Trading of TransAlta

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in TransAlta in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in TransAlta by 37.1% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 812 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of TransAlta during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of TransAlta during the fourth quarter valued at $129,000. Finally, Sage Rhino Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of TransAlta during the third quarter valued at about $139,000. 59.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.