Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Upgraded by Cibc World Mkts to "Strong-Buy" Rating

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Cibc World Mkts from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on FTS. TD Securities initiated coverage on Fortis in a research note on Friday, June 27th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. CIBC raised Fortis from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Fortis from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Desjardins assumed coverage on Fortis in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fortis presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $72.00.

Fortis Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of FTS opened at $48.12 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.30, a PEG ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.48. 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 has a 1-year low of $40.23 and a 1-year high of $50.06. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $47.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.75.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.01. Fortis had a net margin of 14.20% and a return on equity of 7.08%. The company had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.93 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Fortis will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Gold Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Fortis by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. now owns 76,702 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,662,000 after acquiring an additional 1,638 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd bought a new position in shares of Fortis in the second quarter worth approximately $2,207,000. Addenda Capital Inc. boosted its position in shares of Fortis by 6.7% in the second quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 184,958 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $8,828,000 after purchasing an additional 11,556 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Fortis by 8.5% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 35,449 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,692,000 after purchasing an additional 2,785 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp bought a new position in shares of Fortis in the second quarter worth approximately $65,000. 57.77% of the stock is 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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