TransAlta (TSE:TA) Downgraded by Scotiabank to Hold

TransAlta (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) was downgraded by Scotiabank from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on TA. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of TransAlta from C$14.00 to C$16.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Cibc World Mkts lowered TransAlta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Desjardins increased their price target on shares of TransAlta from C$15.50 to C$16.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. CIBC downgraded shares of TransAlta from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from C$17.00 to C$23.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of TransAlta from C$16.00 to C$18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, TransAlta presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$18.33.

TransAlta Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of TransAlta stock opened at C$19.35 on Thursday. 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 12-month low of C$8.22 and a 12-month high of C$21.22. The firm has a market capitalization of C$5.77 billion, a PE ratio of 10.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of -0.07 and a beta of 0.93. The stock’s fifty day moving average is C$18.51 and its 200-day moving average is C$14.43.

TransAlta (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported C($0.12) 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John Harry Kousinioris sold 69,982 shares of TransAlta 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 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$19.41, for a total value of C$194,100.00. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 204,763 shares of company stock valued at $3,478,670. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.