TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) Receives $22.25 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation, six have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $22.25.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on TAC shares. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $24.00 target price on shares of TransAlta in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. TD Cowen started coverage on TransAlta in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. National Bank Financial raised TransAlta from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded TransAlta to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

TransAlta Stock Up 0.3%

TAC stock opened at $13.41 on Wednesday. TransAlta has a fifty-two week low of $10.28 and a fifty-two week high of $17.88. The business’s 50-day moving average is $13.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.61, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.76. The company has a market cap of $4.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.83 and a beta of 0.69.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.03. TransAlta had a positive return on equity of 9.52% and a negative net margin of 9.46%.The company had revenue of $406.19 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $436.36 million. As a group, analysts forecast that TransAlta will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of TransAlta

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in TransAlta by 2.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,949,384 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $149,569,000 after buying an additional 248,027 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in TransAlta by 15.1% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 10,425,309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $142,373,000 after buying an additional 1,369,830 shares in the last quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP increased its position in TransAlta by 5.4% in the third quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP now owns 6,415,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $87,648,000 after buying an additional 330,000 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in TransAlta by 493.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 100,317 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,371,000 after buying an additional 83,414 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aventail Capital Group LP purchased a new stake in TransAlta in the third quarter worth about $38,633,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

TransAlta Company Profile

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.