Analysts Set Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS) Price Target at C$57.54

Shares of Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$57.54.

Several research analysts have issued reports on FTS shares. CIBC increased their price objective on Fortis from C$58.00 to C$59.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Fortis from C$57.00 to C$60.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. National Bankshares upped their target price on Fortis from C$52.00 to C$55.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Bank of America upped their target price on Fortis from C$49.00 to C$50.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Fortis from C$53.00 to C$50.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 22nd.

Insider Activity at Fortis

In related news, Director Brian Slocum acquired 1,888 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of C$39.18 per share, with a total value of C$73,971.65. In other Fortis news, Director Brian Slocum purchased 1,888 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of C$39.18 per share, with a total value of C$73,971.65. Also, Director Margarita Dilley purchased 960 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of C$38.57 per share, for a total transaction of C$37,027.20. Insiders have purchased a total of 2,851 shares of company stock valued at $111,115 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Fortis Price Performance

Fortis stock opened at C$52.38 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of C$53.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$54.13. The stock has a market capitalization of C$25.82 billion, a PE ratio of 16.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 128.76, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.36. Fortis has a 12 month low of C$49.82 and a 12 month high of C$62.00.

Fortis (TSE:FTS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The company reported C$0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of C$0.72. The firm had revenue of C$2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of C$3.22 billion. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.41% and a net margin of 13.66%. Equities analysts predict that Fortis will post 3.2119367 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.51%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Fortis’s payout ratio is currently 76.13%.

About Fortis

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.