Brokerages Set Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Price Target at $72.00

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $72.00.

Several analysts recently commented on FTS shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. National Bankshares reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Fortis from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Fortis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortis

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fortis by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 4,934,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $248,925,000 after purchasing an additional 36,910 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fortis by 31.4% during the 3rd quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 945,005 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,938,000 after purchasing an additional 225,995 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC grew its stake in shares of Fortis by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 9,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $494,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its stake in shares of Fortis by 41.7% during the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 315,468 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,005,000 after purchasing an additional 92,794 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp acquired a new position in shares of Fortis during the 3rd quarter worth $4,103,000. 57.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortis Stock Down 0.9%

FTS stock opened at $49.79 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $50.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.01. Fortis has a 12 month low of $40.32 and a 12 month high of $52.47. The company has a market cap of $25.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.47.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. Fortis had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 7.24%. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Fortis will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

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.