Friday’s analyst upgrades and downgrades Just thinking to add to this price if I was younger !
AltaGas Ltd.’s (
) commitment to focusing on streamlining its operations continues to improve its outlook, according to iA Capital Markets analyst Elias Foscolos.
He was one of several analysts on the Street to raise their target prices for the Calgary-based company on Friday in response to better-than-expected first-quarter results.
A day earlier, AltaGas reported normalized earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of $674-million for the quarter, topping the forecasts of both Mr. Foscolos ($586-million) and the Street ($580-million). The beat was due largely to the performance of its Midstream segment with its Utilities business falling in line with expectations. It also saw larger-than-anticipated profits from the sale of its U.S. Transportation and Storage (USTS) business.
With the results, the company increased its 2021 normalized EBITDA guidance by 5 per cent to a range of $1.475-billion and $1.525-billion and its normalized earnings per share expectation by almost 15 per cent to $1.65-1.80.
That led Mr. Foscolos to increase his target for AltaGas shares to $26 from $25.50, reiterating a “buy” recommendation. The average on the Street is $23.97.
Others raising their AltaGas targets include:
* ATB Capital Markets’ Nate Heywood to $25 from $24 with an “outperform” rating.
“The Q1/21 print was a material beat to Consensus estimates and offers continued confidence in core operations looking forward,” said Mr. Heywood. “The beat was largely attributable to the recently divested US Transportation and Storage business, which significantly outperformed previous years. Looking past the outperforming divested assets, the core business posted a solid performance as rate-regulated cash lows from the Utility assets were complemented from improving fundamentals in the Midstream segment and record LPG export volumes. Looking forward, management has reiterated its confidence in the business through the increase in 2021 guidance and remains focussed on deleveraging.”
* Raymond James’ David Quezada to $24.50 from $24 with an “outperform” rating.
“As exemplified by these robust results, ALA continues to execute in each of its Midstream and Utility segments while asset sales (at attractive prices) drive further progress on deleveraging. We continue to expect the potential sale of the company’s stake in the Mountain Valley Pipeline to represent a key catalyst and longer term, believe a split of the Utility and Midstream businesses could unlock shareholder value,” said Mr. Quezada.
* National Bank Financial’s Patrick Kenny to $26 from $25 with an “outperform” rating.
* Credit Suisse analyst Andrew Kuske to $27 from $25 with an “outperform” rating.
* TD Securities’ Linda Ezergailis to $25 from $22 with a “buy” rating.
ALTAGAS LTD
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