AltaGas Ltd. (TSE:ALA) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

AltaGas Ltd. (TSE:ALA) has been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is C$33.75.

ALA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of AltaGas from C$31.00 to C$33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. TD Securities increased their price objective on shares of AltaGas from C$32.00 to C$34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group set a C$34.00 price objective on shares of AltaGas and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. CIBC raised their price target on shares of AltaGas from C$34.00 to C$36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 29th. Finally, National Bankshares raised their price target on shares of AltaGas from C$31.00 to C$33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th.

AltaGas Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of TSE ALA opened at C$29.94 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 125.64. AltaGas has a 12 month low of C$22.57 and a 12 month high of C$30.08. The firm has a market capitalization of C$8.84 billion, a PE ratio of 13.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of -4.97 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of C$29.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$27.96.

AltaGas (TSE:ALA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 8th. The company reported C$0.75 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of C$0.75. The business had revenue of C$3.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$4.11 billion. AltaGas had a net margin of 5.18% and a return on equity of 8.90%. Equities analysts expect that AltaGas will post 2.1549815 earnings per share for the current year.

AltaGas Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a dividend of $0.298 per share. This represents a $1.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.98%. This is a positive change from AltaGas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. AltaGas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AltaGas

In related news, Senior Officer Randy Warren Toone sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$29.58, for a total value of C$473,200.00. In related news, Director Jeremy Jason Weatherhead sold 12,215 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$29.60, for a total value of C$361,564.00. Also, Senior Officer Randy Warren Toone sold 16,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$29.58, for a total transaction of C$473,200.00. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 68,239 shares of company stock valued at $2,002,672. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About AltaGas

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.