TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) Cut to “Hold” at Cibc World Mkts

Cibc World Mkts lowered shares of TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

TAC has been the subject of a number of other research reports. CIBC downgraded TransAlta from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Scotiabank upgraded TransAlta to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Desjardins reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of TransAlta from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, TransAlta has an average rating of “Hold”.

TransAlta Stock Performance

Shares of TAC stock opened at $13.25 on Wednesday. TransAlta has a 12-month low of $5.94 and a 12-month high of $14.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.01. The company has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.81 and a beta of 0.84.

TransAlta Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Saturday, March 1st will be given a dividend of $0.0423 per share. This represents a $0.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.95%.

Institutional Trading of TransAlta

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new stake in TransAlta in the third quarter worth $42,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in TransAlta in the 3rd quarter valued at about $61,000. Evergreen Capital Management LLC bought a new position in TransAlta in the 2nd quarter worth about $72,000. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in TransAlta during the 3rd quarter valued at $130,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in TransAlta by 326.3% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 18,064 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $187,000 after buying an additional 13,827 shares in the last quarter. 59.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.