Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS) to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has $62.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on FTS. Wall Street Zen upgraded Fortis from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 19th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Friday, February 13th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Monday, April 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Friday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Fortis presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.00.

Fortis Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:FTS traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $56.36. 36,155 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 898,762. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $56.77 and its 200-day moving average is $53.74. Fortis has a 12-month low of $45.87 and a 12-month high of $58.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.12 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.03. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.24% and a net margin of 14.24%.The company had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Fortis will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a $0.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.41%.

Institutional Trading of Fortis

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FTS. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Fortis in the first quarter worth $311,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in shares of Fortis by 19.1% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 565,150 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,760,000 after buying an additional 90,776 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Fortis by 148.0% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,902 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $139,000 after buying an additional 1,732 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fortis by 3.4% during the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 33,996 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,623,000 after buying an additional 1,109 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Fortis by 4.4% during the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 10,343 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $494,000 after buying an additional 439 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

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.