Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eight brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$57.54.

Several brokerages have weighed in on FTS. CIBC lifted their target price on Fortis from C$58.00 to C$59.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Fortis from C$53.00 to C$50.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Bank of America lifted their target price on Fortis from C$49.00 to C$50.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. National Bankshares lifted their target price on Fortis from C$52.00 to C$55.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Fortis from C$58.50 to C$58.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 12th.

Fortis Trading Up 1.1 %

TSE:FTS opened at C$52.38 on Friday. Fortis has a 12-month low of C$49.82 and a 12-month high of C$62.00. The firm has a market capitalization of C$25.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.90, a P/E/G 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. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of C$53.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$54.13.

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

Fortis Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Fortis

In related news, Director Brian Slocum bought 1,888 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of C$39.18 per share, with a total value of C$73,971.65. In related news, Director Brian Slocum bought 1,888 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of C$39.18 per share, with a total value of C$73,971.65. Also, Director Margarita Dilley bought 960 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were bought at an average cost of C$38.57 per share, for a total transaction of C$37,027.20. In the last 90 days, insiders have bought 2,851 shares of company stock valued at $111,115. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.