Fortis (TSE:FTS) Upgraded to "Strong-Buy" at Cibc World Mkts

Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Fortis (TSE:FTS - Free Report) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

FTS has been the subject of a number of other research reports. TD Securities set a C$74.00 price objective on shares of Fortis and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$69.00 to C$72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. CIBC boosted their price target on shares of Fortis from C$68.00 to C$69.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Fortis from C$66.00 to C$70.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$69.00 to C$62.50 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fortis currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of C$65.14.

Fortis Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of Fortis stock traded up C$0.01 during trading on Monday, hitting C$66.95. The stock had a trading volume of 176,482 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,654,013. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is C$65.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$64.34. The stock has a market cap of C$33.12 billion, a PE ratio of 19.87, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 142.31, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.36. Fortis has a 12 month low of C$56.35 and a 12 month high of C$69.24.

Fortis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 1st were paid a dividend of $0.615 per share. This represents a $2.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. Fortis's payout ratio is 73.02%.

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.