National Bank Financial Boosts Fortis (TSE:FTS) Price Target to C$75.00

Key Points

• National Bank Financial raised its price target on Fortis to C$75.00 while maintaining a "sector perform" rating, a target that implies about a 2.23% downside from the stock's current price.
• Analyst consensus remains a "Moderate Buy" with a consensus price target of C$78.68, and several firms recently bumped targets into the roughly C$79–84 range.
• Fortis shares traded around C$76.71 midday, with a market cap of C$39.06B, a PE of 22.56, and reported quarterly EPS of C$0.99.

Fortis (TSE:FTS - Get Free Report) had its target price boosted by equities researchers at National Bank Financial from C$74.00 to C$75.00 in a report issued on Friday,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage presently has a "sector perform" rating on the stock. National Bank Financial's price target suggests a potential downside of 2.23% from the company's current price.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on FTS. Desjardins upped their target price on shares of Fortis from C$79.00 to C$81.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Barclays set a C$62.00 target price on shares of Fortis and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. TD upped their target price on shares of Fortis from C$83.00 to C$84.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of Fortis from C$78.50 to C$80.50 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Fortis from C$79.00 to C$80.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of C$78.68.

Fortis Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of FTS stock traded up C$0.06 during midday trading on Friday, reaching C$76.71. 489,148 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,703,167. Fortis has a 1 year low of C$63.54 and a 1 year high of C$80.69. The company's 50 day moving average is C$77.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$74.36. 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 firm has a market cap of C$39.06 billion, a PE ratio of 22.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.47.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Karen J. Gosse sold 8,412 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$78.18, for a total transaction of C$657,650.16. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 52,228 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately C$4,083,185.04. This represents a 13.87% decrease in their position. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

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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