Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, Canadian electricity company TransAlta
With that in mind, let's take a closer look at TransAlta's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.
TransAlta facts
| Headquarters | Calgary, Canada |
| Market Cap | $4.2 billion |
| Industry | Independent power producers and energy traders |
| Trailing-12-Month Revenue | $2.7 billion |
| Management | CEO Dawn Farrell (since January 2012) CFO Brett Gellner (since June 2010) |
| Return on Equity (average, past 3 years) | 8.2% |
| Cash/Debt | $433.8 million / $4.1 billion |
| Dividend Yield | 6.3% |
| Competitors |
Calpine Canadian Utilities Iberdrola |
Sources: S&P Capital IQ and Motley Fool CAPS.
On CAPS, 97% of the 124 members who have rated TransAlta believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward.
Earlier this week, one of those bulls, All-Star TMFDeej, tapped the stock as a solid income opportunity:
I don't see any specific catalyst that will lift TransAlta's stock in the short term, but it certainly appears to be oversold to me at this point. ...
The fact that [TransAlta] generates half of its electricity using coal bothers me somewhat, but it is in Canada and not the United States so I don't believe that it will be affected by the new U.S. EPA regulations. I'm sure that Canada has its own regulations restricting coal, but as a fuel source coal is actually really cheap right now, which theoretically should be good for the company. ...[TransAlta] isn't going to knock your socks off, but it looks like a fairly stable way to generate 6% in a low-yield environment.
Of course, despite its strong five-star rating, TransAlta may not be your top choice. If that's the case, we've compiled a special free report for investors called "Secure Your Future With 9 Rock-Solid Dividend Stocks," which uncovers several other juicy income opportunities. The report is 100% free, but it won't be around forever, so click here to access it now.
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