Topic: How To Invest

Pat: What is your opinion of AltaGas?

Article Excerpt

AltaGas Ltd., $32.19, symbol ALA on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 88.3 million; Market cap: $2.8 billion; www.altagas.ca), mainly extracts, processes and distributes natural gas. It also processes natural gas liquids and generates power in Alberta. In the three months ended September 30, 2011, AltaGas earned $19.0 million. That’s up 17.3% from $16.2 million a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 15.0%, to $0.23 from $0.20, on more shares outstanding. These figures exclude unusual items, mainly gains and losses on contracts that AltaGas uses to lock in selling prices for its gas and electrical power. Cash flow per share rose 7.8%, to $0.55 from $0.51. Revenue rose 24.3% in the quarter, to $369.3 million from $297.4 million. That’s because the company started up a new gas-fired generator and finished renovating a gas-processing plant. In December 2011, AltaGas completed its purchase of Pacific Northern Gas Ltd. (PNG), which distributes natural gas to 40,000 consumers and businesses in northern B.C. The purchase pushed up AltaGas’s total number…