Brokers Offer Predictions for Fortis Inc.’s Q2 2024 Earnings (NYSE:FTS)

Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) – Equities researchers at Raymond James dropped their Q2 2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Fortis in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, April 25th. Raymond James analyst D. Quezada now anticipates that the utilities provider will post earnings per share of $0.47 for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $0.48. The consensus estimate for Fortis’ current full-year earnings is $2.37 per share. Raymond James also issued estimates for Fortis’ Q3 2024 earnings at $0.58 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $0.63 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $2.33 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $0.69 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $0.50 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.61 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $0.64 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $2.43 EPS.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.01. Fortis had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 7.00%. The company had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS.

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Fortis from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fortis presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.13.

Fortis Price Performance

FTS opened at $39.06 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $39.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.26 billion, a PE ratio of 16.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.42. Fortis has a 52 week low of $36.30 and a 52 week high of $46.28.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Simplicity Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 5.3% in the third quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 9,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $352,000 after buying an additional 468 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Fortis by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 651,017 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $24,732,000 after purchasing an additional 13,925 shares in the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden raised its stake in shares of Fortis by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 149,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,693,000 after purchasing an additional 17,300 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of Fortis by 23.6% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 109,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,184,000 after purchasing an additional 20,918 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 2.7% in the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 7,519,418 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $277,666,000 after purchasing an additional 198,494 shares in the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $0.4382 dividend. This is a positive change from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.49%. Fortis’s payout ratio is 55.65%.

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.