TransAlta (TSE:TA) Reaches New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

TransAlta Co. (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on the stock from C$17.00 to C$22.00. The stock traded as high as C$19.77 and last traded at C$19.76, with a volume of 642251 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$19.09.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. National Bankshares upped their price target on TransAlta from C$14.00 to C$15.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on TransAlta from C$14.00 to C$16.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Securities increased their target price on TransAlta from C$16.00 to C$18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Scotiabank raised shares of TransAlta to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Desjardins downgraded shares of TransAlta from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, TransAlta has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of C$17.00.

Insider Activity

In other TransAlta news, Senior Officer Jane Nyla Fedoretz sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$13.92, for a total transaction of C$278,400.00. Also, Director John Harry Kousinioris sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$17.67, for a total value of C$795,150.00. Insiders sold 189,584 shares of company stock worth $3,027,809 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

TransAlta Stock Up 3.5 %

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is C$15.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$12.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 219.87. The company has a market capitalization of C$6.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of -0.07 and a beta of 0.93.

TransAlta Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Sunday, December 1st will be issued a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.63%.

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.