CIBC Upgrades TransAlta (TSE:TA) to Outperform

TransAlta (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) was upgraded by equities researchers at CIBC from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report issued on Tuesday,BayStreet.CA reports. The firm presently has a C$19.50 target price on the stock, down from their previous target price of C$23.00. CIBC’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 29.14% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Cibc World Mkts downgraded TransAlta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on TransAlta from C$14.00 to C$16.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Scotiabank downgraded TransAlta from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from C$19.00 to C$21.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. TD Securities increased their price objective on TransAlta from C$18.00 to C$19.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on TransAlta from C$17.00 to C$22.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$18.36.

TransAlta Stock Up 1.4 %

TSE TA traded up C$0.21 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting C$15.10. 433,839 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,177,441. The company has a 50 day moving average of C$18.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$15.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 229.66. TransAlta has a 52-week low of C$8.22 and a 52-week high of C$21.22. The firm has a market cap of C$4.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.52, a PEG ratio of -0.07 and a beta of 0.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John Harry Kousinioris sold 69,982 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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. Also, Senior Officer Jane Nyla Fedoretz sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$15.49, for a total value of C$123,920.00. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 204,763 shares of company stock valued at $3,478,670. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.