Scotiabank Issues Pessimistic Estimate for Fortis Earnings

Key Points

• Scotiabank lowered its FY2027 EPS estimate for Fortis to C$3.83 from C$3.84, although the revised forecast remains above the broader consensus estimate of C$3.34.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but leans positive: Fortis has five Buy and five Hold ratings, resulting in a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of C$79.68.
• Fortis shares opened at C$75.27, while the company maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.64 per share, equivalent to an annualized $2.56 payout and a 3.4% yield.

Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS - Free Report) - Analysts at Scotiabank cut their FY2027 earnings per share estimates for Fortis in a research note issued on Thursday, September 10th. Scotiabank analyst R. Hope now expects that the company will post earnings per share of $3.83 for the year, down from their prior estimate of $3.84. The consensus estimate for Fortis' current full-year earnings is $3.34 per share.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on FTS. Desjardins increased their price objective on Fortis from C$81.00 to C$85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce cut shares of Fortis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, National Bank Financial boosted their target price on shares of Fortis from C$75.00 to C$82.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of C$79.68.

Fortis Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of Fortis stock opened at C$75.27 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of C$38.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 143.60, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.36. Fortis has a 52-week low of C$67.15 and a 52-week high of C$83.75. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of C$78.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$78.46.

Fortis (TSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The company reported C$0.78 earnings per share for the quarter. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 14.72%.The company had revenue of C$2.93 billion for the quarter.

Fortis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st were issued a dividend of $0.64 per share. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 19th. Fortis's dividend payout ratio is 74.56%.

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.

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