Fortis (TSE:FTS) Stock Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS) shares crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$74.83 and traded as high as C$78.42. Fortis shares last traded at C$78.42, with a volume of 402,750 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Fortis from C$74.00 to C$77.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Fortis from C$84.00 to C$83.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 8th. National Bank Financial upped their price objective on Fortis from C$74.00 to C$75.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Fortis from C$79.00 to C$80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Fortis from C$72.00 to C$70.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$78.68.

Fortis Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 145.23, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.49. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of C$77.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$74.83. The company has a market cap of C$39.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.13, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.47.

Fortis (TSE:FTS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported C$0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.51% and a net margin of 14.75%.The company had revenue of C$3.40 billion for the quarter. As a group, research analysts predict that Fortis Inc. will post 3.3419913 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a $0.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.04%.

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.