Scotiabank Has Bullish Outlook for Fortis FY2025 Earnings

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) – Analysts at Scotiabank boosted their FY2025 earnings estimates for shares of Fortis in a research report issued on Friday, January 23rd. Scotiabank analyst R. Hope now anticipates that the utilities provider will post earnings per share of $2.52 for the year, up from their prior estimate of $2.50. Scotiabank has a “Sector Perform” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Fortis’ current full-year earnings is $2.35 per share. Scotiabank also issued estimates for Fortis’ FY2026 earnings at $2.62 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $2.77 EPS.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.22 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 14.18% and a return on equity of 7.05%.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on FTS. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. National Bankshares reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. CIBC reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.00.

Fortis Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of Fortis stock opened at $53.69 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Fortis has a twelve month low of $41.24 and a twelve month high of $53.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.24 billion, a PE ratio of 22.37, a P/E/G ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $51.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.67.

Fortis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a dividend of $0.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Fortis’s payout ratio is presently 75.83%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortis

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Fortis by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,593,840 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,196,727,000 after buying an additional 568,326 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Fortis by 0.4% during the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 13,531,955 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $686,518,000 after acquiring an additional 57,447 shares in the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. grew its holdings in Fortis by 3.7% in the third quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 9,163,354 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $461,748,000 after purchasing an additional 326,212 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew 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. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Fortis in the second quarter valued at $291,400,000. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Fortis

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.