Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Upgraded by Desjardins to "Buy" Rating

Key Points

• Fortis Inc. has been upgraded to a "buy" rating by Desjardins, indicating a positive outlook from analysts.
• Multiple research firms, including CIBC and Raymond James, have also raised their ratings on Fortis, suggesting strong interest in the stock.
• The company reported earnings per share of $0.55 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts’ expectations and reflecting strong revenue performance.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Desjardins from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Desjardins also issued estimates for Fortis' FY2025 earnings at $2.53 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $2.66 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $2.86 EPS.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. CIBC upgraded Fortis from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. TD Securities assumed coverage on Fortis in a research note on Friday, June 27th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Cibc World Mkts raised Fortis from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Raymond James Financial upgraded Fortis from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Fortis from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $72.00.

Fortis Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of FTS traded up $0.34 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $50.78. The company had a trading volume of 602,505 shares, compared to its average volume of 598,200. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $47.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.46. Fortis has a 1 year low of $40.32 and a 1 year high of $51.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.58.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.91 billion. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.24% and a net margin of 14.48%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.67 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Fortis will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Fortis

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Fortis by 218.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,648,592 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $166,303,000 after buying an additional 2,503,531 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in Fortis by 52.0% during the first quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 4,922,870 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $224,278,000 after buying an additional 1,683,377 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Fortis by 42.1% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,443,333 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $184,878,000 after buying an additional 1,316,394 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec purchased a new position in shares of Fortis in the 1st quarter worth about $54,838,000. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in shares of Fortis by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 6,218,116 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $258,068,000 after purchasing an additional 612,395 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.77% of the company's stock.

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.