TransAlta Co. (TSE:TA) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of TransAlta Co. (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is C$18.36.

Several brokerages have issued reports on TA. Desjardins raised their price target on TransAlta from C$15.50 to C$16.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on TransAlta from C$17.00 to C$22.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. CIBC raised shares of TransAlta from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from C$23.00 to C$19.50 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. TD Securities boosted their target price on TransAlta from C$18.00 to C$19.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Scotiabank cut TransAlta from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and increased their price target for the company from C$19.00 to C$21.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th.

TransAlta Stock Up 6.5 %

Shares of TA stock opened at C$13.46 on Wednesday. TransAlta has a 1 year low of C$8.22 and a 1 year high of C$21.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 229.66. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is C$16.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$15.54. The firm has a market capitalization of C$4.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.19, a PEG ratio of -0.07 and a beta of 0.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other TransAlta news, Director John Harry Kousinioris sold 35,179 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$20.73, for a total transaction of C$729,260.67. Also, Senior Officer Joel E. Hunter acquired 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of C$14.99 per share, for a total transaction of C$674,752.50. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 45,184 shares of company stock worth $923,432. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

TransAlta Company Profile

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.