Fortis (TSE:FTS) Stock Crosses Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS)’s share price passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of C$68.55 and traded as high as C$73.25. Fortis shares last traded at C$72.27, with a volume of 2,837,065 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FTS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Fortis from C$70.00 to C$72.00 in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on Fortis from C$72.00 to C$75.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. TD Securities increased their target price on Fortis from C$77.00 to C$79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Desjardins lifted their price target on Fortis from C$76.00 to C$79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, CIBC upped their price objective on Fortis from C$74.00 to C$75.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$73.65.

Fortis Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of C$36.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a 50-day moving average of C$71.65 and a 200-day moving average of C$68.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 142.31.

Fortis (TSE:FTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported C$0.87 earnings per share for the quarter. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.48% and a net margin of 14.53%.The company had revenue of C$2.94 billion during the quarter. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Fortis Inc. will post 3.3419913 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st were issued a dividend of $0.64 per share. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. This is a positive change from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.21%.

About Fortis

Fortis owns and operates 10 utility transmission and distribution assets in Canada and the United States, serving more than 3.4 million electricity and gas customers. The company has smaller stakes in electricity generation and several Caribbean utilities. ITC operates electric transmission in seven U.S.