Fortis (TSE:FTS) Price Target Raised to C$78.50

Fortis (TSE:FTS) had its price objective lifted by Raymond James Financial from C$75.50 to C$78.50 in a report published on Friday morning,BayStreet.CA reports. Raymond James Financial currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on FTS. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$79.00 to C$80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce increased their target price on Fortis from C$75.00 to C$76.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. TD Securities raised their price target on Fortis from C$77.00 to C$79.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Fortis from C$79.00 to C$80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, National Bank Financial upped their price objective on Fortis from C$68.00 to C$72.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$75.65.

Fortis Trading Up 1.4%

TSE:FTS opened at C$77.42 on Friday. Fortis has a 52-week low of C$60.94 and a 52-week high of C$77.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 142.31. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of C$71.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$70.94. The company has a market capitalization of C$39.28 billion, a PE ratio of 22.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.35.

Fortis (TSE:FTS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported C$0.90 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$3.08 billion during the quarter. Fortis had a net margin of 14.53% and a return on equity of 7.48%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Fortis will post 3.3419913 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Sunday, March 1st will be issued a $0.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. Fortis’s payout ratio is 73.09%.

Fortis News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortis this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 earnings beat — Fortis reported C$0.90 EPS and C$3.08B revenue; commentary pointed to strong regulated utility growth and asset expansion. Fortis beats Q4 earnings expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Quarterly dividend declared — C$0.64 per share (annualized yield ~3.3%); ex-dividend date Feb 17, record date Mar 1. Income investors may favor the stock on the payout stability.
• Positive Sentiment: Desjardins raised its target to C$81 and kept a “buy” rating (largest upside among recent raises). BayStreet.CA
• Positive Sentiment: Raymond James raised its target to C$78.50 and kept an “outperform” rating, signaling continued bullish analyst view. BayStreet.CA TickerReport
• Neutral Sentiment: RBC and Scotiabank raised targets to C$80 (both keep “sector perform”) — modest upside but not full upgrades. BayStreet.CA
• Negative Sentiment: BMO lifted its target to C$77 and maintains a “market perform” rating — the target sits slightly below the recent price, implying limited upside/neutral-to-slightly-negative near term. BayStreet.CA

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. states, with more than 16,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines in operation serving a peak load in excess of 23 gigawatts.