Zacks Investment Research Lowers TransAlta Corporation (TAC) to Hold

Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of TransAlta Corporation (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Wednesday.

According to Zacks, “TransAlta is Canada’s largest non-regulated electric generation and marketing company. “

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. TheStreet cut TransAlta Corporation from a c rating to a d+ rating in a research report on Friday, May 5th. BidaskClub upgraded TransAlta Corporation from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Saturday, July 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, The stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $7.00.

TransAlta Corporation (TAC) opened at 6.20 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $6.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.77. TransAlta Corporation has a one year low of $3.75 and a one year high of $6.60. The stock has a market cap of $1.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.94 and a beta of 0.71.

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The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.0314 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 30th. This represents a $0.13 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. This is a boost from TransAlta Corporation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. TransAlta Corporation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 133.35%.

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in TransAlta Corporation by 37.5% in the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 17,645,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $112,669,000 after buying an additional 4,809,107 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in TransAlta Corporation by 2,971.4% in the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,269,002 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $20,922,000 after buying an additional 3,162,567 shares in the last quarter. Sentry Investments Corp. purchased a new position in TransAlta Corporation during the second quarter valued at $8,986,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in TransAlta Corporation by 326.7% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,241,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,279,000 after buying an additional 950,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in TransAlta Corporation by 8.4% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,978,952 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $52,649,000 after buying an additional 694,653 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.86% of the company’s stock.

About TransAlta Corporation

TransAlta Corporation (TransAlta) is a non-regulated electricity generation and energy marketing company with an aggregate net ownership interest of approximately 8,720 megawatts of generating capacity. The Company is engaged in the production and sale of electric energy. It focuses on generating and marketing electricity in Canada, the United States and Western Australia through its diversified portfolio of facilities fuelled by coal, natural gas, diesel, hydro, wind and solar.

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