StockNews.com Downgrades TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) to Buy

StockNews.com lowered shares of TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Monday morning.

TransAlta Price Performance

NYSE:TAC opened at $9.31 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.43, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $2.78 billion, a PE ratio of 6.00 and a beta of 0.91. TransAlta has a 52-week low of $5.94 and a 52-week high of $9.55. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $7.31.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $425.37 million during the quarter. TransAlta had a return on equity of 47.71% and a net margin of 18.41%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.17 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that TransAlta will post 0.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransAlta Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Sunday, September 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.044 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This is an increase from TransAlta’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. This represents a $0.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.97%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of TAC. NBC Securities Inc. grew its stake in TransAlta by 156.3% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 4,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in TransAlta by 1,381.5% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,237 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 3,951 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in TransAlta in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in TransAlta in the second quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in TransAlta in the first quarter valued at approximately $66,000. 59.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.