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

Key Points

• Fortis (NYSE:FTS) has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from eleven research firms, with two sell ratings, four holds, four buys, and one strong buy.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.4448 per share, yielding an annualized dividend of $1.78 at a 3.5% yield.
• In its latest earnings report, Fortis exceeded expectations with $0.55 earnings per share, surpassing the consensus estimate of $0.51.

Shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $72.00.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on FTS shares. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Desjardins raised Fortis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Fortis from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th.

Fortis Stock Performance

NYSE:FTS traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $50.76. The company had a trading volume of 594,006 shares, compared to its average volume of 577,419. Fortis has a 1-year low of $40.32 and a 1-year high of $51.45. The firm has a market cap of $25.56 billion, a PE ratio of 20.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.46. The business's 50 day moving average price is $48.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.82. 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 (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 in the previous year, the company posted $0.67 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Fortis will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.4448 per share. The ex-dividend date is 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 dividend yield of 3.5%. Fortis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.25%.

Institutional Trading of Fortis

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Fortis by 5.7% in 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 grew 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 valued at $2,313,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC grew 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 valued at $420,000 after buying an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Fortis by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 34,918 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,452,000 after buying an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. 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.