AltaGas (TSE:ALA) Stock Passes Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average - Here's Why

AltaGas Ltd. (TSE:ALA - Get Free Report)'s share price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$33.38 and traded as high as C$34.57. AltaGas shares last traded at C$34.09, with a volume of 665,049 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded AltaGas from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from C$36.00 to C$37.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of AltaGas from C$38.00 to C$39.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. CIBC boosted 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of AltaGas from C$37.00 to C$40.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of AltaGas from C$37.00 to C$39.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of C$38.30.

AltaGas Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of C$10.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.21, a PEG ratio of -4.97 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of C$33.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$33.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 115.50, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

AltaGas (TSE:ALA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported C$0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$0.10 by C$0.04. AltaGas had a net margin of 3.58% and a return on equity of 5.78%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.10 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that AltaGas Ltd. will post 2.3006093 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AltaGas Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.298 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $1.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.54%. AltaGas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.07%.

Insider Activity at AltaGas

In other AltaGas news, Senior Officer Vernon Dai-Chung Yu acquired 7,600 shares of AltaGas stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of C$32.97 per share, with a total value of C$250,549.20. Also, Senior Officer Donald Mark Jenkins sold 12,352 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$33.90, for a total value of C$418,732.80. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.