Fortis (TSE:FTS) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as C$81.14 and last traded at C$81.01, with a volume of 269731 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$80.55.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on FTS shares. National Bank Financial increased their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$75.00 to C$82.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on shares of Fortis from C$78.50 to C$80.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Fortis from C$84.00 to C$83.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, TD raised their price objective on Fortis from C$83.00 to C$84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fortis presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$79.32.

Fortis Stock Up 0.2%

The business has a 50-day moving average price of C$77.60 and a 200 day moving average price of C$75.64. 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 capitalization of C$41.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.43.

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

Fortis Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Fortis

In related news, insider James Reid sold 24,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$79.21, for a total value of C$1,956,487.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 31,283 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$2,477,926.43. This trade represents a 44.12% decrease in their position. 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.