TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) Cut to “Hold” at Cibc World Mkts

Cibc World Mkts cut shares of TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) (TSE:TA) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

TAC has been the subject of several other reports. Scotiabank raised TransAlta to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. CIBC downgraded shares of TransAlta from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com cut shares of TransAlta from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 4th. Finally, Desjardins reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of TransAlta in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, TransAlta currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

TransAlta Price Performance

Shares of TAC stock opened at $13.25 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $12.35 and its 200-day moving average is $10.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.74. TransAlta has a 52 week low of $5.94 and a 52 week high of $14.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.95 billion, a PE ratio of 35.81 and a beta of 0.84.

TransAlta Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.0423 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.95%.

Institutional Trading of TransAlta

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in TAC. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its position in shares of TransAlta by 122.7% in the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 143,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,015,000 after buying an additional 79,000 shares in the last quarter. Clayton Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of TransAlta by 2,293.5% during the 2nd quarter. Clayton Partners LLC now owns 458,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,244,000 after acquiring an additional 439,013 shares during the period. Rubric Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of TransAlta by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 5,622,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $58,254,000 after purchasing an additional 935,803 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of TransAlta by 9.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,593,023 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,613,000 after purchasing an additional 408,184 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in TransAlta during the third quarter worth about $998,000. 59.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.