Cibc World Mkts Downgrades TransAlta (TSE:TA) to Hold

TransAlta (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) was downgraded by research analysts at Cibc World Mkts from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also commented on TA. Scotiabank raised TransAlta to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Desjardins raised their target price on TransAlta from C$15.50 to C$16.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on TransAlta from C$17.00 to C$22.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. CIBC downgraded shares of TransAlta from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from C$17.00 to C$23.00 in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of TransAlta from C$14.00 to C$16.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, TransAlta has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$18.33.

TransAlta Stock Performance

Shares of TA stock opened at C$19.12 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is C$17.45 and its 200 day moving average is C$13.74. The stock has a market capitalization of C$5.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.06, a PEG ratio of -0.07 and a beta of 0.93. TransAlta has a 12 month low of C$8.22 and a 12 month high of C$20.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 219.87.

Insider Buying and Selling at TransAlta

In other news, Director John Harry Kousinioris sold 69,982 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$15.15, for a total value of C$1,060,227.30. Also, Senior Officer Jane Nyla Fedoretz sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$15.11, for a total transaction of C$377,750.00. Insiders sold a total of 204,763 shares of company stock worth $3,478,670 over the last three months. 0.21% of the stock is owned by 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.