Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Fortis Inc. has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with varying ratings including five holds, two buys, and one strong buy from eight firms.
• The average twelve-month price target for Fortis stock is C$71.22, showing optimistic growth potential as several firms have recently raised their target prices, with Desjardins setting it at C$76.00.
• Fortis announced a quarterly dividend of $0.615, which translates to an annualized yield of 3.4% and a dividend payout ratio of 71.62%.

Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is C$71.22.

FTS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Desjardins raised shares of Fortis from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from C$71.00 to C$76.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$70.00 to C$72.00 in a report on Monday, September 15th. National Bankshares increased their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$65.00 to C$67.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. TD Securities increased their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$74.00 to C$77.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$70.00 to C$73.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, October 6th.

Fortis Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of TSE:FTS opened at C$72.16 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of C$36.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.28. Fortis has a 1-year low of C$57.98 and a 1-year high of C$72.19. The company's fifty day moving average is C$69.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$67.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 142.31, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.74.

Fortis Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 1st were issued a $0.615 dividend. This represents a $2.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 19th. Fortis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.62%.

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.

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