CIBC Upgrades Fortis (NYSE:FTS) to "Sector Outperform"

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at CIBC from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. TD Securities initiated coverage on shares of Fortis in a report on Friday, June 27th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Fortis from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Desjardins assumed coverage on shares of Fortis in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $72.00.

Fortis Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of FTS traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $48.97. The company had a trading volume of 155,653 shares, compared to its average volume of 598,500. Fortis has a 1-year low of $40.32 and a 1-year high of $50.06. The stock has a market cap of $24.66 billion, a PE ratio of 20.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.01. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.08% and a net margin of 14.20%. The firm had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.93 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Fortis will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in Fortis by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 9,515 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $396,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fortis by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 6,265 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of Fortis by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,302 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $179,000 after buying an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Fortis by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,377 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $245,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Newport Trust Company LLC boosted its holdings in Fortis by 3.4% in the first quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 9,216 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $420,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.77% of the company's stock.

About Fortis

Fortis Inc operates as an electric and gas utility company in Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean countries. It generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to approximately 447,000 retail customers in southeastern Arizona; and 103,000 retail customers in Arizona's Mohave and Santa Cruz counties with an aggregate capacity of 3,408 megawatts (MW), including 68 MW of solar capacity and 250 MV of wind capacity.