Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Analysts

Key Points

• Fortis (NYSE:FTS) has an average recommendation of "Hold" among analysts, with 2 sell ratings, 5 hold ratings, 4 buy ratings, and 1 strong buy rating.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.4448, translating to an annual yield of 3.6%.
• Fortis reported earnings of $0.55 per share for the quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate of $0.51, and posted revenue of $2.03 billion.

Shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the twelve research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $72.00.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on FTS shares. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. CIBC raised shares of Fortis from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, National Bankshares reissued a "sector perform" rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Tuesday, August 5th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Fortis by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 6,265 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $260,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Fortis by 5.7% in the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,377 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in Fortis by 0.6% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 48,548 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,313,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC increased its stake in Fortis by 3.4% during the first quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 9,216 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $420,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fortis by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 34,918 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,452,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.77% of the company's stock.

Fortis Stock Performance

Fortis stock opened at $49.21 on Monday. Fortis has a 12-month low of $40.32 and a 12-month high of $51.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The company has a market capitalization of $24.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.48. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $49.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.51.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last announced 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 return on equity of 7.24% and a net margin of 14.48%.The company had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.91 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.67 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Fortis will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th were paid a $0.4448 dividend. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. This is a positive change from Fortis's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 19th. Fortis's payout ratio is 73.25%.

Fortis Company Profile

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.

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