TransAlta (TSE:TA) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

TransAlta Co. (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as C$21.11 and last traded at C$21.07, with a volume of 147276 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$20.68.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on TA. Scotiabank raised TransAlta to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. TD Securities boosted 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 note on Wednesday, November 6th. CIBC lowered shares of TransAlta from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from C$17.00 to C$23.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Desjardins boosted their price objective on TransAlta from C$15.50 to C$16.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on TransAlta from C$17.00 to C$22.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, TransAlta presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$18.33.

TransAlta Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is C$17.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$14.13. 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 stock has a market capitalization of C$6.29 billion, a PE ratio of 11.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of -0.07 and a beta of 0.93.

TransAlta Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.14%. TransAlta’s payout ratio is currently 12.63%.

Insider Activity

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