Topic: How To Invest

Hi Pat: I wonder if you could tell me what is in store for AltaGas? I hold shares in the company and wonder if I should sell these while I am still ahead. Thank you for your advice.

Article Excerpt

AltaGas Ltd., $34.99, symbol ALA on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 118.5 million; Market cap: $4.2 billion; www.altagas.ca), processes, transmits, stores and markets natural gas for producers; generates power from gas-fired, coal-fired, wind, biomass and hydroelectric plants; and operates natural gas distribution utilities. Excluding one-time items, AltaGas earned $35.5 million, or $0.30 a share, in the three months ended June 30, 2013. That’s up sharply from $10.4 million, or $0.12 a share, a year earlier. Cash flow per share gained 57.8%, to $0.71 from $0.45. Revenue increased 68.3%, to $458.6 million from $272.2 million. The improved results mostly came from Semco Holding Corporation, which operates natural gas utilities in Alaska and Michigan. In August 2012, AltaGas bought Semco for $1.14 billion, which was its biggest acquisition to date. AltaGas’s second-quarter results also benefited from the start-up of its Gordondale and Co-Stream gas-processing plants, the expansion of its Blair Creek gas-processing facility, the addition of new biomass and gas-fired power-generation plants and growth at its…