Jefferies Financial Group Initiates Coverage on TransAlta (NYSE:TAC)

Investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm set a "hold" rating on the utilities provider's stock.Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded TransAlta from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Cibc World Mkts raised TransAlta from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of TransAlta from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, CIBC raised shares of TransAlta from a "neutral" rating to an "outperformer" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $19.50 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $19.50.Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on TACTransAlta Stock PerformanceTAC stock opened at $8.64 on Friday. TransAlta has a one year low of $5.94 and a one year high of $14.64. The firm has a market cap of $2.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.06 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.74. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.12. TransAlta (NYSE:TAC - Get Free Report) TSE: TA last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported ($0.16) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.28). The firm had revenue of $484.60 million for the quarter. TransAlta had a return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 6.38%. On average, equities analysts forecast that TransAlta will post 0.41 EPS for the current fiscal year. Institutional Inflows and OutflowsSeveral institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TAC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of TransAlta by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,229,823 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $144,680,000 after purchasing an additional 150,554 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in TransAlta by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 9,290,110 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $131,222,000 after buying an additional 716,139 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in TransAlta by 79.7% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,255,923 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $116,764,000 after buying an additional 3,662,900 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of TransAlta by 638.9% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 7,995,489 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $112,936,000 after acquiring an additional 6,913,431 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of TransAlta by 280.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,385,966 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $76,211,000 after acquiring an additional 3,969,037 shares in the last quarter. 59.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. TransAlta Company Profile (Get Free Report)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.Read MoreFive stocks we like better than TransAlta3 Warren Buffett Stocks to Buy NowRocket Lab Stock: Weathering the Storm, Time for a Comeback?Do Real Estate Investment Trusts Deserve a Place in Your Portfolio?Snowflake Boosts Growth by Doubling Down on AI3 Small Caps With Big Return PotentialIAMGOLD Stock Climbs as Turnaround Story Gains TractionThis instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.Should You Invest $1,000 in TransAlta Right Now?Before you consider TransAlta, you'll want to hear this.MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and TransAlta wasn't on the list.While TransAlta currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.View The Five Stocks Here