Fortis (TSE:FTS) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as C$74.90 and last traded at C$74.79, with a volume of 496038 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$73.77.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FTS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Fortis from C$72.00 to C$79.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Desjardins upped their price objective on Fortis from C$76.00 to C$79.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. National Bankshares increased their price objective on Fortis from C$68.00 to C$72.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. CIBC boosted their target price on shares of Fortis from C$75.00 to C$76.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, TD Securities upped their price target on shares of Fortis from C$77.00 to C$79.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$74.65.

Fortis Price Performance

The company has a market cap of C$37.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of C$71.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$70.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 142.31.

Fortis (TSE:FTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported C$0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$2.94 billion during the quarter. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.48% and a net margin of 14.53%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Fortis Inc. will post 3.3419913 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st were given a $0.64 dividend. This is a boost from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.21%.

About Fortis

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.