TD Securities Initiates Coverage on Fortis (NYSE:FTS)

Equities research analysts at TD Securities assumed coverage on shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) in a report released on Friday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm set a "buy" rating on the utilities provider's stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Fortis from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Desjardins started coverage on Fortis in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fortis presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $72.00.

Fortis Price Performance

FTS opened at $47.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.49. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $47.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.12. Fortis has a one year low of $38.50 and a one year high of $50.06.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.08% and a net margin of 14.20%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.93 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Fortis will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortis

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FTS. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new position in Fortis during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in Fortis by 286.7% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,106 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 820 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Fortis by 111.7% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,226 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Fortis by 158,500.0% in the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,586 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 1,585 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Fortis by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,828 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 914 shares during the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Fortis Company Profile

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.

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