AltaGas (TSE:ALA) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

AltaGas Ltd. (TSE:ALA) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as C$45.37 and last traded at C$44.86, with a volume of 886307 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$44.95.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on ALA shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of AltaGas from C$47.00 to C$48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on AltaGas from C$45.00 to C$47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised their target price on AltaGas from C$47.00 to C$50.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on AltaGas from C$48.00 to C$50.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, National Bank Financial increased their price target on AltaGas from C$46.00 to C$50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AltaGas has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$48.11.

AltaGas Stock Down 0.2%

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of C$41.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$42.01. The firm has a market cap of C$13.96 billion, a PE ratio of 18.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of -4.97 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.26.

AltaGas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors 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 2.8%. AltaGas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.