Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is C$79.68.

Several equities analysts have commented on FTS shares. National Bank Financial raised their target price on shares of Fortis from C$75.00 to C$82.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Fortis from C$84.00 to C$83.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 8th. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on shares of Fortis from C$78.50 to C$80.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Desjardins lifted their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$81.00 to C$85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, TD boosted their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$83.00 to C$84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th.

Fortis Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of TSE FTS opened at C$82.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 145.23, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.49. Fortis has a 52 week low of C$66.32 and a 52 week high of C$83.40. The stock has a market capitalization of C$42.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.48, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s fifty day moving average is C$79.69 and its 200 day moving average is C$77.40.

Fortis (TSE:FTS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported C$0.99 EPS for the quarter. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.51% and a net margin of 14.75%.The business had revenue of C$3.40 billion during the quarter. Sell-side analysts forecast that Fortis will post 3.3419913 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a $0.64 dividend. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.04%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider James Reid sold 24,700 shares of Fortis stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$79.21, for a total value of C$1,956,487.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 31,283 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$2,477,926.43. This trade represents a 44.12% decrease in their position. In the last 90 days, insiders acquired 572 shares of company stock valued at $45,909. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Fortis Company Profile

Fortis owns and operates 10 utility transmission and distribution assets in Canada and the United States, serving more than 3.4 million electricity and gas customers. The company has smaller stakes in electricity generation and several Caribbean utilities. ITC operates electric transmission in seven U.S. states, with more than 16,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines in operation serving a peak load in excess of 23 gigawatts.