KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 9 — Utility giant Tenaga Nasional Bhd’s share price hit an all-time high of RM15.86 today, and is projected to break the RM17 threshold.

Stocks in the energy firm rose 16 sen per share since opening today, prompting analysts to predict further gains.

"Based on the technical indicators, Tenaga is likely to hit RM17 on strong buying interest,” said Loui Low, head of research at Hong Leong Investment Bank.

He noted that foreign buying trends from the past six days suggest that that some interest was set to go the way of counters such as TNB.

Separately, Affin Hwang Investment Bank analyst Ng Chi Hoong said TNB’s performance since December was consistent with the rise at the Bursa Malaysia, which breached the 1,800-mark this week.

TNB’s performance is notable as the firm announced last month that it was freezing its current power tariff rates until 2020.

"However, in terms of tariff, the government making it clear that they will be fitting the differences on the generation cost, can be viewed as a positive to Tenaga, as it is a good indication that the Imbalance Cost Pass-Through will continue to work, and it will be earnings neutral to Tenaga, allowing it to continue with its current dividend policy,” Ng was quoted as saying the theedgemarkets.com.

Based on data compiled by Bloomberg, consensus among analysts was that TNB is expected to hit a 12-month target price of RM16.61, with a potential return of 4.7 per cent from currently.