TransAlta (TSE:TA) Stock Passes Below Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

TransAlta Co. (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC)’s share price passed below its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of C$18.10 and traded as low as C$16.29. TransAlta shares last traded at C$16.39, with a volume of 2,233,577 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD set a C$26.00 price objective on TransAlta and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. ATB Cormark Capital Markets set a C$28.00 target price on TransAlta and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Scotiabank upgraded TransAlta to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Scotia set a C$27.00 price target on shares of TransAlta and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, National Bank Financial upped their price target on shares of TransAlta from C$22.00 to C$24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of C$25.00.

TransAlta Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of C$17.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$18.09. The company has a market cap of C$5.29 billion, a P/E ratio of -53.97, a PEG ratio of -0.07 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 238.01, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.61.

TransAlta (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The company reported C$0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. TransAlta had a negative return on equity of 1.50% and a negative net margin of 1.02%.The business had revenue of C$507.00 million during the quarter.

Insider Activity

In other TransAlta news, insider Michael Politeski purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of C$17.77 per share, with a total value of C$177,700.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 85,000 shares in the company, valued at C$1,510,450. This trade represents a 13.33% increase in their position. Insiders acquired a total of 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $453,600 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

About TransAlta

TransAlta owns, operates and develops a diverse fleet of electrical power generation assets in Canada, the United States and Australia with a focus on long-term shareholder value. TransAlta provides municipalities, medium and large industries, businesses and utility customers with affordable, energy efficient and reliable power. Today, TransAlta is one of Canada’s largest producers of wind power and Alberta’s largest producer of thermal generation and hydro-electric power. For over 114 years, TransAlta has been a responsible operator and a proud member of the communities where we operate and where our employees work and live.