Analysts Set Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Target Price at $72.00

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of "Hold" by the eight analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $72.00.

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Fortis from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. CIBC raised shares of Fortis from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Desjardins started coverage on shares of Fortis in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Fortis from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Fortis from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday.

Institutional Trading of Fortis

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FTS. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Fortis during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Fortis by 286.7% during 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 during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Fortis by 111.7% during 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. Fifth Third Bancorp bought a new stake in shares of Fortis during the second quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. increased its position in Fortis by 158,500.0% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,586 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 1,585 shares during the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Fortis Stock Down 0.6%

NYSE FTS traded down $0.28 on Friday, hitting $48.79. 168,044 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 614,755. The company has a market cap of $24.57 billion, a PE ratio of 20.57, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.48. Fortis has a 12 month low of $40.23 and a 12 month high of $50.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $47.49 and a 200-day moving average of $45.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.42 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 14.20% and a return on equity of 7.08%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.93 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Fortis will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

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.