Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eight analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $66.3333.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Fortis from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lowered shares of Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Fortis from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Tuesday, August 4th.

Institutional Trading of Fortis

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cibc World Market Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Fortis during the second quarter worth approximately $442,633,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Fortis during the 4th quarter valued at about $335,980,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Fortis during the second quarter valued at approximately $334,727,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Fortis during the second quarter valued at approximately $311,146,000. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new stake in Fortis during the second quarter worth approximately $257,370,000. Institutional investors own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Fortis Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE FTS opened at $53.85 on Friday. Fortis has a 1 year low of $48.90 and a 1 year high of $59.40. The firm has a market cap of $27.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.80 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.56. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $56.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.40.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.01. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.16% and a net margin of 14.17%.The business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Fortis will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.64 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.8%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.68%.

Fortis Company Profile

Fortis Inc is a Canadian investor-owned utility company headquartered in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. Through its regulated utility subsidiaries, the company provides electricity and natural gas services to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Fortis operates electric transmission and distribution networks, natural gas distribution systems, and power generation assets. Its businesses include FortisBC in British Columbia, Newfoundland Power and Maritime Electric in Atlantic Canada, as well as utilities in the United States, including Central Hudson, UNS Energy and ITC.