TransAlta (TA) Set to Announce Earnings on Friday

TransAlta (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) is scheduled to post its quarterly earnings results 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 data on Friday, February 23rd. The company reported C($0.27) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of C$0.18 by C($0.45). TransAlta had a net margin of 20.71% and a return on equity of 43.58%. The company had revenue of C$624.00 million for the quarter.

TransAlta Stock Performance

TSE:TA opened at C$9.13 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 253.18, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.91. TransAlta has a 52-week low of C$8.22 and a 52-week high of C$13.97. The firm has a market cap of C$2.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.92, a PEG ratio of -0.07 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s fifty day moving average is C$8.90 and its 200 day moving average is C$9.96.

TransAlta Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Saturday, June 1st will be paid a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.63%. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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