AltaGas (TSE:ALA) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

AltaGas Ltd. (TSE:ALA) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as C$46.89 and last traded at C$46.78, with a volume of 83435 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$46.36.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce increased their price objective on AltaGas from C$47.00 to C$50.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. National Bank Financial boosted their price objective on shares of AltaGas from C$46.00 to C$50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of AltaGas from C$45.00 to C$47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. ATB Cormark Capital Markets boosted their price target on AltaGas from C$48.00 to C$49.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on AltaGas from C$48.00 to C$50.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$48.11.

AltaGas Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of C$42.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$42.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.26, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of C$14.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.80, a P/E/G ratio of -4.97 and a beta of 0.37.

AltaGas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.315 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 16th. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. AltaGas’s payout ratio is presently 49.90%.

About AltaGas

AltaGas Ltd owns and operates a diversified basket of energy infrastructure businesses. Business is conducted through four segments: Midstream, power, utilities and corporate. Utility business owns and operates rate-regulated natural gas distribution assets across North America. Midstream business subsequent to the sale of non-core midstream assets in Canada and also engaged in the natural gas liquid processing and extraction, transportation, and storage. Natural gas is sold and purchased for both commercial and industrial users.