Insider Buying: TransAlta (TSE:TA) Insider Acquires C$177,700.00 in Stock

TransAlta Co. (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) insider Michael Politeski bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of C$17.77 per share, with a total value of C$177,700.00. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 85,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$1,510,450. This represents a 13.33% increase in their ownership of the stock.

Michael Politeski also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, June 19th, Michael Politeski bought 10,000 shares of TransAlta stock. The stock was acquired at an average price of C$19.58 per share, for a total transaction of C$195,800.00.
• On Friday, June 5th, Michael Politeski bought 10,000 shares of TransAlta stock. The shares were acquired at an average cost of C$18.15 per share, with a total value of C$181,500.00.
• On Wednesday, May 13th, Michael Politeski bought 10,000 shares of TransAlta stock. The shares were acquired at an average price of C$17.24 per share, with a total value of C$172,400.00.

TransAlta Trading Down 1.5%

TransAlta stock opened at C$17.48 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 238.01, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market cap of C$5.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -56.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of -0.07 and a beta of 0.73. TransAlta Co. has a 1 year low of C$15.62 and a 1 year high of C$25.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is C$19.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$18.27.

TransAlta (TSE:TA) (NYSE:TAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The company reported C$0.18 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$507.00 million during the quarter. TransAlta had a negative return on equity of 1.50% and a negative net margin of 1.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. ATB Cormark Capital Markets set a C$28.00 price target on TransAlta and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. TD set a C$26.00 price objective on shares of TransAlta and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. National Bank Financial raised their target price on shares of TransAlta from C$22.00 to C$24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada set a C$24.00 price target on shares of TransAlta and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, Desjardins upped their price target on shares of TransAlta from C$18.50 to C$19.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, TransAlta currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of C$25.00.

About TransAlta

TransAlta owns, operates and develops a diverse fleet of electrical power generation assets in Canada, the United States and Australia with a focus on long-term shareholder value. TransAlta provides municipalities, medium and large industries, businesses and utility customers with affordable, energy efficient and reliable power. Today, TransAlta is one of Canada’s largest producers of wind power and Alberta’s largest producer of thermal generation and hydro-electric power. For over 114 years, TransAlta has been a responsible operator and a proud member of the communities where we operate and where our employees work and live.