Scotiabank Downgrades TransAlta (TSE:TA) to Hold

TransAlta (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) was downgraded by investment analysts at Scotiabank from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on TA. Desjardins increased their price objective on shares of TransAlta from C$15.50 to C$16.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Cibc World Mkts downgraded TransAlta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of TransAlta from C$14.00 to C$16.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of TransAlta from C$17.00 to C$22.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, TD Securities boosted their price objective on shares of TransAlta from C$16.00 to C$18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$18.33.

TransAlta Price Performance

Shares of TA stock opened at C$19.35 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of C$18.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$14.43. The company has a market capitalization of C$5.77 billion, a PE ratio of 10.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of -0.07 and a beta of 0.93. TransAlta has a twelve month low of C$8.22 and a twelve month high of C$21.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 219.87.

TransAlta (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported C($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business earned $1.19 EPS.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John Harry Kousinioris sold 69,982 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$15.15, for a total value of C$1,060,227.30. Also, Senior Officer Jane Nyla Fedoretz sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 204,763 shares of company stock valued at $3,478,670. 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.