TransAlta (TSE:TA) Hits New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

TransAlta Co. (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as C$19.74 and last traded at C$19.42, with a volume of 307773 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$19.10.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on TA. Desjardins lowered TransAlta from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. National Bankshares increased their price objective on shares of TransAlta from C$14.00 to C$15.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Scotiabank raised shares of TransAlta to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of TransAlta from C$16.00 to C$17.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, TD Securities lifted their price objective on TransAlta from C$16.00 to C$18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of C$16.17.

TransAlta Stock Down 1.5 %

The stock has a market capitalization of C$5.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.05, a PEG ratio of -0.07 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 219.87, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The business has a fifty day moving average of C$14.65 and a 200 day moving average of C$12.04.

TransAlta Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.63%.

Insider Transactions at TransAlta

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 shares were sold at an average price of C$13.92, for a total value 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 stock was sold at an average price of C$17.67, for a total value of C$795,150.00. Insiders sold a total of 175,988 shares of company stock worth $2,765,921 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.21% 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.