Analysts Set TransAlta Co. (TSE:TA) Target Price at C$17.08

TransAlta Co. (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$17.08.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on TA. Desjardins raised their price objective on TransAlta from C$15.50 to C$16.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Securities raised their price objective on TransAlta from C$16.00 to C$18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on TransAlta from C$14.00 to C$16.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on TransAlta from C$17.00 to C$22.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Scotiabank raised TransAlta to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Senior Officer Jane Nyla Fedoretz sold 20,000 shares of TransAlta stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$13.92, for a total value of C$278,400.00. Also, Director John Harry Kousinioris sold 35,179 shares of TransAlta stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$20.73, for a total value of C$729,260.67. Insiders have sold 224,763 shares of company stock valued at $3,757,070 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

TransAlta Stock Performance

Shares of TA opened at C$19.89 on Friday. The company has a market cap of C$5.93 billion, a PE ratio of 10.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of -0.07 and a beta of 0.93. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of C$15.70 and a 200-day moving average price of C$12.72. TransAlta has a 12-month low of C$8.22 and a 12-month high of C$20.98.

TransAlta Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 1st will be paid a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.