TransAlta (TSE:TA) Stock Rating Lowered by Cibc World Mkts

Cibc World Mkts cut shares of TransAlta (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

TA has been the topic of a number of other reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of TransAlta from C$17.00 to C$22.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of TransAlta to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. CIBC cut shares of TransAlta from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from C$17.00 to C$23.00 in a report on Wednesday. Desjardins boosted their target price on shares of TransAlta from C$15.50 to C$16.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on 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 given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$18.33.

TransAlta Price Performance

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

TransAlta Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 1st were issued a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.63%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Senior Officer Jane Nyla Fedoretz sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$15.49, for a total transaction of C$123,920.00. Also, Director John Harry Kousinioris sold 69,982 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$15.15, for a total transaction of C$1,060,227.30. In the last three months, insiders sold 204,763 shares of company stock worth $3,478,670. Company insiders own 0.21% 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.