Raymond James Issues Pessimistic Outlook for Fortis Earnings

Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS) – Research analysts at Raymond James cut their Q4 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Fortis in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James analyst T. Genzebu now anticipates that the company will post earnings per share of $0.83 for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $0.84. Raymond James has a “Market Perform” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Fortis’ current full-year earnings is $3.34 per share.

FTS has been the subject of a number of other reports. CIBC raised their price target on Fortis from C$63.00 to C$64.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Fortis from C$62.00 to C$65.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fortis currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$60.89.

Fortis Trading Up 1.6 %

TSE FTS opened at C$61.94 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of C$30.67 billion, a PE ratio of 19.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.23. Fortis has a 1-year low of C$51.02 and a 1-year high of C$63.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 128.59. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is C$60.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$59.91.

Fortis (TSE:FTS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported C$0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$0.81 by C$0.04. Fortis had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 7.44%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 1st were paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This is an increase from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Fortis’s payout ratio is currently 77.12%.

Insider Transactions at Fortis

In other Fortis news, Senior Officer Keri Linda Glitch bought 450 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of C$61.41 per share, with a total value of C$27,634.59. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$27,634.59. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. Also, Senior Officer Jocelyn Perry sold 11,809 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$63.19, for a total value of C$746,178.83. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Fortis Company Profile

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.