TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) Shares Up 8.4% on Analyst Upgrade

TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA)’s share price rose 8.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Scotiabank upgraded the stock to a strong-buy rating. The company traded as high as $13.36 and last traded at $13.4170. Approximately 711,891 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 54% from the average daily volume of 1,544,949 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.38.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of TransAlta in a report on Wednesday. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of TransAlta from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of TransAlta in a report on Thursday, May 7th. National Bank Financial raised shares of TransAlta from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $24.00 price objective on shares of TransAlta in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, TransAlta currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.25.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On TransAlta

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of TransAlta in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,128,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of TransAlta by 54.7% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,642 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 1,642 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of TransAlta by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,428,195 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,709,000 after buying an additional 217,200 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of TransAlta during the 1st quarter worth approximately $5,448,000. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia grew its position in shares of TransAlta by 23.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 1,338,554 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,595,000 after buying an additional 257,356 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 59.00% of the company’s stock.

TransAlta Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $13.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.61, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.76. The company has a market cap of $3.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.80 and a beta of 0.69.

TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.01 by $0.03. TransAlta had a negative net margin of 9.46% and a positive return on equity of 9.52%. The company had revenue of $406.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $436.36 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that TransAlta Corporation will post 0.26 EPS for the current year.

TransAlta Company Profile

TransAlta Corporation, originally founded in 1909 as Calgary Power Company Ltd., is a publicly traded energy company specializing in the development, ownership and operation of power generation and transmission assets. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, TransAlta has grown from its early hydroelectric roots into a diversified energy provider with a multi-fuel generating fleet.

The company’s core business activities encompass power generation, asset management and energy trading services.