Fortis (TSE:FTS) Share Price Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average - Here's Why

Key Points

• Fortis crossed above its 200‑day moving average, with the 200‑day MA at C$72.55 and the stock trading as high as C$76.28 (last C$75.69) on volume of 861,026 shares.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but tilted positive: consensus is a Moderate Buy with an average target of C$77.06, after recent target changes including Desjardins C$81 (buy), Scotiabank C$80 and BMO C$77 while Jefferies cut its target to C$70.
• Recent fundamentals and shareholder returns: Fortis reported C$0.90 EPS and C$3.08 billion revenue for the quarter, and pays a quarterly dividend of C$0.64 (C$2.56 annualized) for a 3.4% yield with a payout ratio around 73%.

Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS - Get Free Report)'s stock price crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of C$72.55 and traded as high as C$76.28. Fortis shares last traded at C$75.69, with a volume of 861,026 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on FTS. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Fortis from C$79.00 to C$80.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Fortis from C$74.00 to C$77.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Fortis from C$72.00 to C$70.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised their price target on shares of Fortis from C$75.00 to C$76.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Desjardins boosted their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$79.00 to C$81.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of C$77.06.

Fortis Trading Up 0.1%

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of C$75.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$72.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 145.62, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The company has a market capitalization of C$38.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.45.

Fortis (TSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported C$0.90 earnings per share for the quarter. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.51% and a net margin of 14.78%.The company had revenue of C$3.08 billion during the quarter. On average, analysts forecast that Fortis Inc. will post 3.3419913 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Sunday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.64 per share. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. Fortis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.09%.

Insider Activity at Fortis

In other news, insider Karen J. Gosse sold 8,412 shares of Fortis stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$78.18, for a total value of C$657,650.16. Following the transaction, the insider owned 52,228 shares of the company's stock, valued at C$4,083,185.04. This trade represents a 13.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Fortis

Fortis owns and operates 10 utility transmission and distribution assets in Canada and the United States, serving more than 3.4 million electricity and gas customers. The company has smaller stakes in electricity generation and several Caribbean utilities. ITC operates electric transmission in seven U.S. states, with more than 16,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines in operation serving a peak load in excess of 23 gigawatts.

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