AltaGas (ALA) to Release Earnings on Thursday

AltaGas (TSE:ALA) is scheduled to be announcing its earnings results before the market opens on Thursday, October 31st. Analysts expect AltaGas to post earnings of C$0.09 per share for the quarter.

AltaGas (TSE:ALA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported C$0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of C$0.12 by C$0.02. The company had revenue of C$2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$2.54 billion. AltaGas had a return on equity of 5.78% and a net margin of 3.58%.

AltaGas Price Performance

Shares of TSE ALA opened at C$33.47 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 115.50, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market capitalization of C$9.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.13, a PEG ratio of -4.97 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is C$34.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$31.85. AltaGas has a 12 month low of C$24.75 and a 12 month high of C$35.77.

AltaGas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were issued a dividend of $0.298 per share. This represents a $1.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. AltaGas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ALA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut AltaGas from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from C$36.00 to C$37.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. National Bankshares boosted their target price on shares of AltaGas from C$36.00 to C$39.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Raymond James lifted their price objective on AltaGas from C$35.00 to C$37.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank increased their target price on AltaGas from C$38.00 to C$39.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on AltaGas from C$37.00 to C$40.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AltaGas currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$38.10.

Insider Buying and Selling at AltaGas

In other AltaGas news, Director Aaron Bishop sold 19,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$33.58, for a total value of C$665,555.60. In related news, Director Aaron Bishop sold 19,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$33.58, for a total transaction of C$665,555.60. Also, Senior Officer Bertram Grant Bradley sold 7,500 shares of AltaGas stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$33.61, for a total value of C$252,075.00. Insiders sold a total of 33,320 shares of company stock worth $1,125,051 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

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.