TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) Upgraded to Outperformer at CIBC

CIBC upgraded shares of TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) from a neutral rating to an outperformer rating in a report released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. CIBC currently has $19.50 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $23.00.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Cibc World Mkts lowered shares of TransAlta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Desjardins restated 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of TransAlta from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Two investment 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, TransAlta presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.50.

TransAlta Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TAC opened at $11.28 on Tuesday. TransAlta has a 52 week low of $5.94 and a 52 week high of $14.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.47 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94.

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

TransAlta Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Saturday, March 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.0423 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. TransAlta’s payout ratio is 48.65%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On TransAlta

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TAC. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in TransAlta by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 53,803 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $557,000 after buying an additional 3,492 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in TransAlta by 326.3% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 18,064 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $187,000 after purchasing an additional 13,827 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in TransAlta by 23.6% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 26,207 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 5,008 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in TransAlta by 192.5% during the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 34,081 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $346,000 after purchasing an additional 22,431 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new position in TransAlta during the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Institutional investors own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

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.