Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the eight brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$57.04.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America increased their price target on Fortis from C$49.00 to C$50.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$53.00 to C$50.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Fortis from C$56.00 to C$59.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Fortis from C$60.00 to C$56.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Raymond James reduced their price objective on Fortis from C$62.00 to C$59.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 25th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Senior Officer Ronald Hinsley sold 972 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$38.79, for a total transaction of C$37,706.21. In other Fortis news, Senior Officer Ronald Hinsley sold 972 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$38.79, for a total transaction of C$37,706.21. Also, Director Brian Slocum bought 1,888 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of C$39.18 per share, with a total value of C$73,971.65. Over the last ninety days, insiders acquired 2,851 shares of company stock worth $111,115. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Fortis Stock Performance

Shares of FTS opened at C$55.48 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of C$27.35 billion, a PE ratio of 17.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.18. The business’s fifty day moving average price is C$53.30 and its 200 day moving average price is C$54.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 128.89, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.36. Fortis has a 12-month low of C$49.82 and a 12-month high of C$62.00.

Fortis (TSE:FTS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The company reported C$0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of C$0.72. Fortis had a net margin of 14.11% and a return on equity of 7.38%. The company had revenue of C$2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$3.22 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Fortis will post 3.1998828 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Saturday, June 1st will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.25%. Fortis’s payout ratio is currently 75.40%.

Fortis Company Profile

Fortis Inc operates as an electric and gas utility company in Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean countries. It generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to approximately 447,000 retail customers in southeastern Arizona; and 103,000 retail customers in Arizona's Mohave and Santa Cruz counties with an aggregate capacity of 3,408 megawatts (MW), including 68 MW of solar capacity and 250 MV of wind capacity.