TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) Trading Up 6.9% – Here’s Why

Shares of TransAlta Co. (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) rose 6.9% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $11.20 and last traded at $11.29. Approximately 229,881 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 2,011,030 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.56.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TAC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Desjardins reissued a “hold” rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Scotiabank lowered shares of TransAlta from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of TransAlta from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of TransAlta from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, CIBC raised shares of TransAlta from a “neutral” rating to an “outperformer” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $23.00 to $19.50 in a report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.50.

TransAlta Stock Up 7.6 %

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’s 50-day moving average is $12.74 and its 200-day moving average is $10.94. The company has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.97 and a beta of 0.83.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported ($0.16) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by ($0.28). TransAlta had a net margin of 5.72% and a return on equity of 17.46%. On average, analysts anticipate that TransAlta Co. will post 0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransAlta Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 1st will be issued a $0.0423 dividend. This represents a $0.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. TransAlta’s payout ratio is 48.65%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rubric Capital Management LP increased its position 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 last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in TransAlta by 9.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,593,023 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,613,000 after acquiring an additional 408,184 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in TransAlta during the third quarter valued at approximately $998,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new position in TransAlta during the third quarter valued at approximately $518,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of TransAlta in the third quarter worth approximately $1,812,000. 59.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.