AltaGas (TSE:ALA) Reaches New 12-Month High After Dividend Announcement

Shares of AltaGas Ltd. (TSE:ALA) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as C$33.72 and last traded at C$33.58, with a volume of 5779 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$32.92.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.298 per share. This represents a $1.19 annualized dividend and a yield of ∞. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. AltaGas’s payout ratio is presently 57.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ALA. CIBC raised their price objective on shares of AltaGas from C$38.00 to C$40.00 in a research report on Monday, July 15th. National Bankshares increased their price target on AltaGas from C$35.00 to C$36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on AltaGas from C$34.00 to C$37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Scotiabank increased their price target on AltaGas from C$35.00 to C$36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on AltaGas from C$35.00 to C$37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, AltaGas currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of C$36.60.

AltaGas Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is C$31.07 and its 200 day moving average price is C$29.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 117.56, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a market cap of C$9.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.03, a PEG ratio of -4.97 and a beta of 1.22.

AltaGas (TSE:ALA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported C$1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of C$1.05 by C$0.09. The firm had revenue of C$3.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of C$4.13 billion. AltaGas had a net margin of 5.03% and a return on equity of 7.93%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AltaGas Ltd. will post 2.1388695 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at AltaGas

In related news, Director Angela S. Lekatsas purchased 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of C$30.58 per share, with a total value of C$61,160.00. In other news, Senior Officer Bertram Grant Bradley sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$30.59, for a total value of C$458,850.00. Also, Director Angela S. Lekatsas acquired 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of C$30.58 per share, for a total transaction of C$61,160.00. Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 20,500 shares of company stock worth $627,795 and sold 172,750 shares worth $5,257,062. Corporate 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.