Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Fortis (NYSE:FTS) has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from ten brokerage firms, with the average target price set at $72.00.
• The company has reported a quarterly EPS of $0.55, exceeding estimates, and a revenue of $2.03 billion, indicating strong financial performance.
• Fortis recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.4448 per share, which represents an annualized yield of 3.5% and signifies confidence in ongoing profitability.

Shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the ten ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $72.00.

Several brokerages have commented on FTS. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Fortis from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. CIBC raised shares of Fortis from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Desjardins raised shares of Fortis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Tuesday, August 5th.

Fortis Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:FTS opened at $50.27 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $49.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.47. Fortis has a one year low of $40.32 and a one year high of $51.45. The company has a market cap of $25.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.69, a PEG ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.50.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. Fortis had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 7.24%. The firm 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 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Fortis will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.4448 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 19th. This is a positive change from Fortis's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Fortis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.25%.

Institutional Trading of Fortis

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTS. JCIC Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Fortis by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,377 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $245,000 after buying an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in Fortis by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 48,548 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,313,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC boosted its holdings in Fortis by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 9,216 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $420,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the period. Cigna Investments Inc. New boosted its holdings in Fortis by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New now owns 9,219 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $420,000 after buying an additional 321 shares during the period. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Fortis by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 34,938 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,668,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the period. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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