Desjardins Comments on Fortis' FY2025 Earnings (NYSE:FTS)

Key Points

• Desjardins raised its FY2025 earnings per share estimate for Fortis to $2.53, up from $2.46, while maintaining a "Buy" rating on the stock.
• Fortis announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.4448, effective September 1st, up from the previous $0.43, reflecting a dividend yield of 3.5%.
• The company reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.55, exceeding analysts' estimates, and had a total revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) - Analysts at Desjardins upped their FY2025 earnings estimates for shares of Fortis in a report issued on Tuesday, August 5th. Desjardins analyst B. Stadler now expects that the utilities provider will post earnings per share of $2.53 for the year, up from their previous forecast of $2.46. Desjardins has a "Buy" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Fortis' current full-year earnings is $2.35 per share. Desjardins also issued estimates for Fortis' FY2026 earnings at $2.66 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $2.86 EPS.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. Fortis had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 7.24%. The business had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.67 earnings per share.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Fortis from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. National Bankshares reissued a "sector perform" rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Tuesday. CIBC raised shares of Fortis from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, TD Securities reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $72.00.

Fortis Stock Performance

Fortis stock traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $50.83. The stock had a trading volume of 566,508 shares, compared to its average volume of 600,394. The company has a 50-day moving average of $48.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. Fortis has a fifty-two week low of $40.32 and a fifty-two week high of $51.45. The company has a market cap of $25.60 billion, a PE ratio of 20.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.46.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortis

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FTS. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. acquired a new stake in Fortis during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH bought a new stake in shares of Fortis during the second quarter worth $28,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Fortis by 286.7% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,106 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 820 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fortis by 111.7% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,226 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Fortis by 157.3% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,253 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 766 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.77% of the company's stock.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be paid a $0.4448 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. This is a boost from Fortis's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Fortis's dividend payout ratio is presently 73.25%.

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.