TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Cibc World Mkts

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

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. CIBC upgraded TransAlta from a “neutral” rating to an “outperformer” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $19.50 in a research note on Tuesday. Desjardins restated a “hold” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Scotiabank downgraded TransAlta from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded TransAlta from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, TransAlta currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.50.

TransAlta Price Performance

TransAlta stock opened at $10.58 on Tuesday. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $12.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.92. The company has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.59 and a beta of 0.83.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rubric Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 20.0% in the third quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 5,622,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $58,254,000 after purchasing an additional 935,803 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 9.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,593,023 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,613,000 after purchasing an additional 408,184 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in shares of TransAlta in the third quarter worth $998,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of TransAlta in the third quarter worth $518,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of TransAlta in the third quarter worth $1,812,000. Institutional investors own 59.00% 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.