Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the nine brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is C$73.65.

Several research analysts have issued reports on FTS shares. CIBC upped their price objective on Fortis from C$74.00 to C$75.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Desjardins boosted their target price on Fortis from C$76.00 to C$79.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Scotiabank upped their price target on Fortis from C$70.00 to C$73.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Fortis from C$72.00 to C$74.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Fortis from C$72.00 to C$79.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 5th.

Fortis Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of TSE FTS opened at C$71.11 on Friday. Fortis has a 1-year low of C$57.98 and a 1-year high of C$74.00. The company has a market cap of C$35.67 billion, a PE ratio of 21.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 142.31. The company has a 50-day moving average of C$71.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$68.58.

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

Fortis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st were paid a dividend of $0.64 per share. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. This is a positive change from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. Fortis’s payout ratio is presently 73.21%.

Fortis Company Profile

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.