Fortis (TSE:FTS) Price Target Raised to C$75.00 at National Bank Financial

Fortis (TSE:FTS) had its target price hoisted by National Bank Financial from C$74.00 to C$75.00 in a report released on Friday morning,BayStreet.CA reports. The firm currently has a sector perform rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on FTS. Barclays set a C$62.00 price objective on shares of Fortis and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$79.00 to C$80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$74.00 to C$77.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$78.50 to C$80.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, TD lifted their target price on Fortis from C$83.00 to C$84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$78.68.

Fortis Stock Performance

FTS opened at C$76.74 on Friday. Fortis has a 52-week low of C$63.54 and a 52-week high of C$80.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 145.23. The company has a market cap of C$39.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.47. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is C$77.95 and its 200-day moving average price is C$74.36.

Fortis (TSE:FTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of C$3.40 billion for the quarter. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Fortis will post 3.3419913 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.64 per share. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Karen J. Gosse sold 8,412 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$78.18, for a total transaction of C$657,650.16. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 52,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$4,083,185.04. This trade represents a 13.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Fortis Company Profile

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.