Cibc World Mkts Upgrades TransAlta (TSE:TA) to Strong-Buy

TransAlta (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) was upgraded by equities researchers at Cibc World Mkts from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank downgraded TransAlta from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from C$19.00 to C$21.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Desjardins lifted their target price on TransAlta from C$15.50 to C$16.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on TransAlta from C$14.00 to C$16.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. CIBC upgraded TransAlta from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from C$23.00 to C$19.50 in a report on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on TransAlta from C$17.00 to C$22.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$18.36.

TransAlta Price Performance

Shares of TA opened at C$15.03 on Tuesday. TransAlta has a 1 year low of C$8.22 and a 1 year high of C$21.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 229.66, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company has a market capitalization of C$4.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of -0.07 and a beta of 0.93. The business has a 50-day moving average of C$18.44 and a 200-day moving average of C$15.15.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John Harry Kousinioris sold 69,982 shares of TransAlta 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 transaction of C$1,060,227.30. Also, Senior Officer Jane Nyla Fedoretz sold 25,000 shares of TransAlta stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$15.11, for a total value of C$377,750.00. Insiders sold a total of 204,763 shares of company stock worth $3,478,670 over the last quarter. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

TransAlta Company Profile

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.