Fortis (TSE:FTS) Shares Pass Above 200 Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Shares of Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS - Get Free Report) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$77.75 and traded as high as C$81.22. Fortis shares last traded at C$79.80, with a volume of 1,370,060 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on Fortis from C$78.50 to C$80.50 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Desjardins lifted their price target on Fortis from C$81.00 to C$85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Barclays lowered their price target on Fortis from C$84.00 to C$83.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 8th. National Bank Financial raised their price objective on Fortis from C$75.00 to C$82.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce downgraded Fortis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fortis has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of C$79.68.

Fortis Stock Down 0.9%

The stock's 50-day moving average price is C$80.13 and its 200-day moving average price is C$77.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 145.23. The stock has a market cap of C$40.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.41.

Fortis (TSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported C$0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$3.40 billion during the quarter. Fortis had a net margin of 14.75% and a return on equity of 7.51%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Fortis Inc. will post 3.3419913 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a dividend of $0.64 per share. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Fortis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.04%.

Insider Activity at Fortis

In related news, insider James Reid sold 421 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$79.05, for a total value of C$33,280.05. Following the sale, the insider owned 31,283 shares in the company, valued at C$2,472,921.15. This represents a 1.33% decrease in their position. Insiders have bought 572 shares of company stock worth $45,909 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Fortis Company Profile

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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