TransAlta (TAC) closed the most recent trading day at $8.03, moving -0.37% from the previous trading session. The stock fell short of the S&P 500, which registered a gain of 0.18% for the day. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a rise of 0.07%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw an increase of 0.1%.

Coming into today, shares of the power generation and marketing company had lost 0.74% in the past month. In that same time, the Utilities sector gained 2.24%, while the S&P 500 gained 2.75%.

The upcoming earnings release of TransAlta will be of great interest to investors. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $0.28, marking a 162.22% rise compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for TransAlta. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which varies between #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), carries an impressive track record of exceeding expectations, confirmed by external audits, with stocks at #1 delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has witnessed an unchanged state. TransAlta is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

With respect to valuation, TransAlta is currently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 17.4. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 15.19.

The Utility - Electric Power industry is part of the Utilities sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 81, placing it within the top 33% of over 250 industries.



The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to use Zacks.com to monitor all these stock-influencing metrics, and more, throughout the forthcoming trading sessions.

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TransAlta Corporation (TAC):Free Stock Analysis Report

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