Brokerages Set TransAlta Co. (TSE:TA) PT at C$17.08

TransAlta Co. (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) has received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is C$17.08.

TA has been the topic of several research reports. Desjardins boosted their price target on TransAlta from C$15.50 to C$16.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on TransAlta from C$14.00 to C$16.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Scotiabank raised TransAlta to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. TD Securities boosted their price target on shares of TransAlta from C$16.00 to C$18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of TransAlta from C$17.00 to C$22.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th.

Insider Activity

In other TransAlta news, Senior Officer Jane Nyla Fedoretz sold 25,000 shares of TransAlta stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$15.11, for a total value of C$377,750.00. Also, Director John Harry Kousinioris sold 69,982 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$15.15, for a total value of C$1,060,227.30. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 204,763 shares of company stock worth $3,478,670. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

TransAlta Stock Performance

TSE:TA opened at C$20.42 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is C$16.08 and its 200-day moving average is C$12.92. The company has a market cap of C$6.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.75, a PEG ratio of -0.07 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 219.87, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.84. TransAlta has a 52-week low of C$8.22 and a 52-week high of C$20.98.

TransAlta Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.63%.

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.