TransAlta (TSE:TA) Hits New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

TransAlta Co. (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as C$15.39 and last traded at C$15.24, with a volume of 49615 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$15.29.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on TA shares. National Bankshares raised their price objective on shares of TransAlta from C$14.00 to C$15.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of TransAlta from C$16.00 to C$17.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Desjardins downgraded TransAlta from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. TD Securities lifted their target price on TransAlta from C$16.00 to C$18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on TransAlta from C$14.00 to C$16.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, TransAlta has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$16.17.

TransAlta Stock Up 1.0 %

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of C$14.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$11.70. 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 cap of C$4.61 billion, a PE ratio of 8.05, a P/E/G ratio of -0.07 and a beta of 0.93.

TransAlta Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Sunday, December 1st will be paid a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. TransAlta’s payout ratio is presently 12.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at TransAlta

In other news, Director John Harry Kousinioris sold 69,982 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 TransAlta stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$15.11, for a total transaction of C$377,750.00. Insiders have sold a total of 114,988 shares of company stock worth $1,716,451 over the last three months. 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.