Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Coverage Initiated at Desjardins

Desjardins began coverage on shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued a hold rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Desjardins also issued estimates for Fortis’ Q1 2025 earnings at $0.69 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $0.50 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.62 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $0.63 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $2.44 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $2.61 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $2.74 EPS, FY2028 earnings at $2.89 EPS and FY2029 earnings at $3.05 EPS.

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Fortis in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.00.

Fortis Trading Down 2.4 %

NYSE FTS opened at $48.56 on Tuesday. Fortis has a one year low of $38.15 and a one year high of $50.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market cap of $24.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.50. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $46.37 and its 200-day moving average is $44.29.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 7.09%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Fortis will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $0.4324 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.73%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Fortis during the 4th quarter worth about $182,242,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Fortis by 77.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,257,486 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $180,686,000 after acquiring an additional 1,853,082 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Fortis by 42.1% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,443,333 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $184,878,000 after purchasing an additional 1,316,394 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its stake in Fortis by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 6,218,116 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $258,068,000 after purchasing an additional 612,395 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Fortis by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 12,870,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $586,192,000 after purchasing an additional 604,615 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

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.