Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $72.00.

Several research firms recently commented on FTS. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Friday, February 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Friday, February 13th.

Fortis Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of Fortis stock opened at $55.62 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Fortis has a 52-week low of $43.28 and a 52-week high of $58.78. The company has a market capitalization of $28.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.79, a P/E/G ratio of 4.61 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a 50 day moving average of $55.56 and a 200 day moving average of $52.58.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.03. Fortis had a net margin of 14.24% and a return on equity of 7.24%. The company had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Fortis will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.64%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. West Family Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Fortis in the 2nd quarter valued at about $249,000. XTX Topco Ltd grew its stake in Fortis by 172.5% during the 2nd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 32,997 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,575,000 after buying an additional 20,889 shares during the last quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Fortis by 2.8% during the third quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 963,061 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,859,000 after buying an additional 25,809 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Fortis in the second quarter valued at approximately $291,400,000. Finally, Westerkirk Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Fortis in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,224,000. 57.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fortis Company Profile

Fortis Inc is a Canadian diversified electric and gas utility holding company headquartered in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. Through a portfolio of regulated utility subsidiaries, the company develops, owns and operates electricity and natural gas transmission, distribution and generation assets. Fortis serves customers across multiple jurisdictions in Canada, the United States and the Caribbean, focusing on the delivery of safe, reliable energy to residential, commercial and industrial users.

The company’s core activities include operation and maintenance of transmission and distribution networks, ownership of generation facilities, and investment in grid modernization and system resilience.