TransAlta (TSE:TA) Shares Down 14.9% – Here’s What Happened

TransAlta Co. (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) shares were down 14.9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as C$16.26 and last traded at C$16.47. Approximately 836,079 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 59% from the average daily volume of 2,042,685 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$19.35.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. CIBC downgraded TransAlta from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from C$17.00 to C$23.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Cibc World Mkts downgraded shares of TransAlta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank lowered shares of TransAlta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Desjardins boosted their price target on TransAlta from C$15.50 to C$16.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, TD Securities increased their target price on shares of TransAlta from C$16.00 to C$18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$18.33.

TransAlta Trading Down 15.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 219.87, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company has a market cap of C$4.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.61, a P/E/G ratio of -0.07 and a beta of 0.93. The stock’s 50-day moving average is C$18.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$14.50.

TransAlta (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported C($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of C$0.18 by C($0.30). TransAlta had a return on equity of 32.01% and a net margin of 19.50%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS.

Insider Activity

In other TransAlta news, Senior Officer Jane Nyla Fedoretz sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$15.11, for a total value of C$377,750.00. Also, Director John Harry Kousinioris sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$17.67, for a total transaction of C$795,150.00. In the last three months, insiders have sold 204,763 shares of company stock worth $3,478,670. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.