Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Receives $72.00 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $72.00.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. CIBC reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Monday, October 6th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, National Bankshares reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Wednesday, November 5th.

Institutional Trading of Fortis

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. West Family Investments Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Fortis during the 2nd quarter worth about $249,000. Aviso Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Fortis by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 101,518 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,846,000 after acquiring an additional 6,682 shares during the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Fortis by 42.4% in the second quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 794,320 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,955,000 after purchasing an additional 236,347 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd increased its stake in Fortis by 172.5% in the second quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 32,997 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,575,000 after purchasing an additional 20,889 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in Fortis by 5.9% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,224,022 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $296,614,000 after purchasing an additional 345,633 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Fortis Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:FTS opened at $50.85 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $51.33 and its 200-day moving average is $49.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.66. Fortis has a 52 week low of $40.32 and a 52 week high of $52.83. The company has a market capitalization of $25.71 billion, a PE ratio of 21.19, a P/E/G ratio of 4.79 and a beta of 0.50.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 14.18% and a return on equity of 7.05%. Equities research analysts predict that Fortis will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a $0.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. Fortis’s payout ratio is currently 75.83%.

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.