Insider Selling: TransAlta Co. (TSE:TA) Senior Officer Sells 10,000 Shares of Stock

TransAlta Co. (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) Senior Officer Jane Nyla Fedoretz sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$19.41, for a total value of C$194,100.00.

Jane Nyla Fedoretz also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, December 11th, Jane Nyla Fedoretz sold 3,602 shares of TransAlta stock. The shares were sold at an average price of C$18.84, for a total value of C$67,861.68.
• On Monday, December 2nd, Jane Nyla Fedoretz sold 8,000 shares of TransAlta stock. The stock was sold at an average price of C$16.30, for a total value of C$130,400.00.
• On Thursday, November 28th, Jane Nyla Fedoretz sold 8,000 shares of TransAlta stock. The shares were sold at an average price of C$15.49, for a total transaction of C$123,920.00.
• On Thursday, November 21st, Jane Nyla Fedoretz sold 25,000 shares of TransAlta stock. The stock was sold at an average price of C$15.11, for a total transaction of C$377,750.00.
• On Wednesday, September 25th, Jane Nyla Fedoretz sold 20,000 shares of TransAlta stock. The stock was sold at an average price of C$13.92, for a total transaction of C$278,400.00.

TransAlta Stock Up 3.5 %

Shares of TA stock opened at C$20.55 on Wednesday. TransAlta Co. has a twelve month low of C$8.22 and a twelve month high of C$20.59. The stock has a market cap of C$6.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.82, a P/E/G ratio of -0.07 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a 50 day moving average of C$15.36 and a 200 day moving average of C$12.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 219.87.

TransAlta Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Sunday, December 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. TransAlta’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on TA shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of TransAlta from C$14.00 to C$16.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. National Bankshares increased their price objective on TransAlta from C$14.00 to C$15.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. 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. Scotiabank upgraded shares of TransAlta to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Desjardins lowered shares of TransAlta from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of C$17.00.

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.