Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts give Fortis a consensus rating of Moderate Buy (9 analysts: 4 hold, 4 buy, 1 strong buy) with an average 12‑month price target of C$75.75; several brokers recently lifted targets toward about C$77–80 while Jefferies trimmed its target to C$70.
• Fortis announced a quarterly dividend of C$0.64 (annualized C$2.56), a 3.3% yield, with an ex‑dividend date of May 15 and payment on June 1.
• The stock trades near C$77.74 (12‑month range C$63.54–C$80.69), has a market cap of about C$39.6B and a P/E of 22.9, and reported last quarter EPS of C$0.90 on C$3.08B of revenue.

Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the nine analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$75.75.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on FTS. Desjardins increased their target price on Fortis from C$79.00 to C$81.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Fortis from C$74.00 to C$77.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Fortis from C$72.00 to C$70.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Fortis from C$79.00 to C$80.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on Fortis from C$79.00 to C$80.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th.

Fortis Stock Performance

Fortis stock opened at C$77.74 on Monday. Fortis has a 12 month low of C$63.54 and a 12 month high of C$80.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 145.62. The business has a 50 day moving average price of C$77.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$74.26. The stock has a market cap of C$39.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.45.

Fortis (TSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported C$0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.51% and a net margin of 14.78%.The business had revenue of C$3.08 billion during the quarter. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Fortis will post 3.3419913 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a $0.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 presently 73.09%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Karen J. Gosse sold 8,412 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$78.18, for a total value of C$657,650.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 52,228 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately C$4,083,185.04. This represents a 13.87% decrease in their position. Insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

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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