AltaGas (TSE:ALA) Sets New 52-Week High at $30.32

AltaGas Ltd. (TSE:ALA)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as C$30.32 and last traded at C$30.14, with a volume of 57571 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$30.20.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. CIBC boosted their price target on AltaGas from C$34.00 to C$36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 29th. TD Securities lifted their price objective on AltaGas from C$32.00 to C$34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group set a C$34.00 price objective on AltaGas and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on AltaGas from C$31.00 to C$33.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, National Bankshares lifted their price objective on AltaGas from C$31.00 to C$33.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of C$33.75.

AltaGas Price Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of C$29.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$27.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 125.64, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a market capitalization of C$8.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.36, a P/E/G ratio of -4.97 and a beta of 1.22.

AltaGas (TSE:ALA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 8th. The company reported C$0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting 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 return on equity of 8.90% and a net margin of 5.18%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AltaGas Ltd. will post 2.1549815 earnings per share for the current year.

AltaGas Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a dividend of $0.298 per share. This represents a $1.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.96%. 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%.

Insider Transactions at AltaGas

In other news, Senior Officer Randy Warren Toone sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$29.18, for a total transaction of C$1,167,200.00. In related news, Director Jeremy Jason Weatherhead sold 12,215 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$29.60, for a total transaction of C$361,564.00. Also, Senior Officer Randy Warren Toone sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$29.18, for a total transaction of C$1,167,200.00. Insiders sold a total of 68,239 shares of company stock worth $2,002,672 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

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.