AltaGas (TSE:ALA) Reaches New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of AltaGas Ltd. (TSE:ALA) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after Scotiabank raised their price target on the stock from C$33.00 to C$35.00. Scotiabank currently has an outperform rating on the stock. AltaGas traded as high as C$30.58 and last traded at C$30.40, with a volume of 236122 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$30.36.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on ALA. National Bankshares upped their target price on shares of AltaGas from C$31.00 to C$33.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of AltaGas from C$32.00 to C$34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group set a C$34.00 target price on shares of AltaGas and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, TD Securities upped their target price on shares of AltaGas from C$32.00 to C$34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of C$34.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AltaGas news, Director Jeremy Jason Weatherhead sold 12,215 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$29.60, for a total transaction of C$361,564.00. In other news, Senior Officer Randy Warren Toone sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$29.18, for a total transaction of C$1,167,200.00. Also, Director Jeremy Jason Weatherhead sold 12,215 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$29.60, for a total transaction of C$361,564.00. Insiders have sold 68,239 shares of company stock valued at $2,002,672 in the last three months. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AltaGas Stock Down 0.3 %

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is C$29.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$28.17. The stock has a market cap of C$8.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of -4.97 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 125.64, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

AltaGas (TSE:ALA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, March 8th. The company reported C$0.75 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of C$0.75. The company had revenue of C$3.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$4.11 billion. AltaGas had a net margin of 5.18% and a return on equity of 8.90%. Sell-side analysts forecast that AltaGas Ltd. will post 2.1549815 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AltaGas Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a $0.298 dividend. This represents a $1.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.94%. This is an increase from AltaGas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. AltaGas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.65%.

AltaGas Company Profile

AltaGas Ltd. operates as an energy infrastructure company in North America. The company operates through Utilities and Midstream segments. The Utilities segment owns and operates franchised, cost-of-service, rate-regulated natural gas distribution and storage utilities in Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and the District of Columbia serving approximately 1.6 million customers.