Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Fortis (NYSE:FTS) from a "hold" to a "sell" rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.
• Analyst coverage remains mixed: five analysts rate the stock a Buy and five a Hold, giving an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $72.00.
• In its latest quarter Fortis reported $0.65 EPS (beating the $0.62 estimate) but revenue of $2.13 billion missed expectations; the stock recently traded near $57.66 with a market cap of about $29.35 billion and a PE of 23.63.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Scotiabank reiterated a "sector perform" rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Friday, February 13th. TD Securities reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $72.00.

Fortis Price Performance

Fortis stock opened at $57.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The company has a market capitalization of $29.35 billion, a PE ratio of 23.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.47. Fortis has a one year low of $45.45 and a one year high of $58.78. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.16.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.03. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.24% and a net margin of 14.24%.The business had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.83 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Fortis will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortis

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FTS. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd grew its stake in shares of Fortis by 1.7% during the third quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd now owns 13,325 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $676,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. West Family Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fortis by 4.3% during the third quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 5,443 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $276,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC grew its stake in shares of Fortis by 2.8% during the third quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 9,734 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $494,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fortis by 3.5% during the third quarter. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 7,895 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. Finally, Compound Planning Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fortis by 6.6% during the third quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 4,536 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $230,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.77% of the company's stock.

About Fortis

Fortis Inc is a Canadian diversified electric and gas utility holding company headquartered in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. Through a portfolio of regulated utility subsidiaries, the company develops, owns and operates electricity and natural gas transmission, distribution and generation assets. Fortis serves customers across multiple jurisdictions in Canada, the United States and the Caribbean, focusing on the delivery of safe, reliable energy to residential, commercial and industrial users.

The company's core activities include operation and maintenance of transmission and distribution networks, ownership of generation facilities, and investment in grid modernization and system resilience.

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