TransAlta (TA) to Release Quarterly Earnings on Friday

TransAlta (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) is set to release its earnings data before the market opens on Friday, May 3rd. Analysts expect TransAlta to post earnings of C$0.14 per share for the quarter.

TransAlta (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The company reported C($0.27) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of C$0.18 by C($0.45). TransAlta had a return on equity of 43.58% and a net margin of 20.71%. The company had revenue of C$624.00 million for the quarter.

TransAlta Stock Performance

TSE:TA opened at C$9.19 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 253.18, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market cap of C$2.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of -0.07 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is C$8.90 and its 200 day moving average price is C$9.96. TransAlta has a 1-year low of C$8.22 and a 1-year high of C$13.97.

TransAlta Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Saturday, June 1st will be issued a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. TransAlta’s payout ratio is 10.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on TA. CIBC decreased their price target on TransAlta from C$18.50 to C$16.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of TransAlta from C$15.00 to C$14.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of TransAlta from C$17.00 to C$16.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 26th. TD Securities decreased their price objective on shares of TransAlta from C$15.00 to C$14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, National Bankshares reduced their price target on shares of TransAlta from C$14.00 to C$13.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of C$15.55.

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.