AltaGas (TSE:ALA) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

AltaGas Ltd. (TSE:ALA)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as C$40.22 and last traded at C$40.13, with a volume of 71402 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$39.59.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ALA shares. CIBC increased their price objective on shares of AltaGas from C$40.00 to C$42.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Scotiabank raised their price target on AltaGas from C$40.00 to C$42.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AltaGas currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$39.11.

AltaGas Stock Up 1.0 %

The firm has a market cap of C$11.90 billion, a PE ratio of 23.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of -4.97 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of C$36.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$34.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.26, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

AltaGas (TSE:ALA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 7th. The company reported C$0.76 EPS for the quarter. AltaGas had a net margin of 4.04% and a return on equity of 6.36%. Analysts expect that AltaGas Ltd. will post 2.3006093 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AltaGas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.315 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.15%. This is a positive change from AltaGas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. AltaGas’s payout ratio is currently 68.98%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Senior Officer Corine Renae Knight Bushfield sold 144,064 shares of AltaGas stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$38.00, for a total value of C$5,474,432.00. Also, Senior Officer Randy Warren Toone sold 92,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$39.19, for a total transaction of C$3,605,480.00. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 398,414 shares of company stock worth $15,302,227. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

AltaGas Company Profile

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.