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

TransAlta Co. (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as C$14.79 and last traded at C$14.74, with a volume of 265127 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$14.31.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on TA shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on TransAlta from C$14.00 to C$16.00 in a report on Wednesday. Desjardins downgraded TransAlta from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. TD Securities raised 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. CIBC cut their target price on shares of TransAlta from C$16.50 to C$15.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, National Bankshares upped their price target on TransAlta from C$14.00 to C$15.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$16.17.

TransAlta Trading Down 5.0 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 219.87. The firm has a market cap of C$4.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.65, a PEG ratio of -0.07 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a 50-day moving average price of C$13.45 and a 200 day moving average price of C$11.14.

TransAlta Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 1st will be given a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. TransAlta’s payout ratio is presently 12.63%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Senior Officer Kerry Lynn O’reilly sold 48,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$10.99, for a total transaction of C$536,674.67. In related news, Senior Officer Kerry Lynn O’reilly sold 48,833 shares of TransAlta stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$10.99, for a total transaction of C$536,674.67. Also, Senior Officer Jane Nyla Fedoretz sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$13.92, for a total value of C$278,400.00. Insiders have sold 78,839 shares of company stock worth $929,648 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.