TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday.

TAC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. CIBC raised TransAlta from a “neutral” rating to an “outperformer” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $23.00 to $19.50 in a research note on Tuesday. Cibc World Mkts raised TransAlta from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Scotiabank downgraded shares of TransAlta from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Desjardins reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.50.

TransAlta Price Performance

TransAlta stock traded down $0.41 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $10.88. 5,542,753 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,180,275. TransAlta has a 1-year low of $5.94 and a 1-year high of $14.64. The firm has a market cap of $3.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.39 and a beta of 0.83. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $10.96. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported ($0.16) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by ($0.28). TransAlta had a net margin of 5.72% and a return on equity of 17.46%. The company had revenue of $484.60 million for the quarter. As a group, analysts forecast that TransAlta will post 0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of TransAlta

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of TAC. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new stake in TransAlta in the 3rd quarter worth about $42,000. Tobam purchased a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of TransAlta during the third quarter worth approximately $61,000. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of TransAlta during the third quarter worth approximately $130,000. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new position in TransAlta during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $145,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

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.