Hydro One (TSE:H) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Hydro One Limited (TSE:H) shares reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as C$56.32 and last traded at C$56.32, with a volume of 429017 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$54.90.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on H. National Bank Financial raised their price objective on shares of Hydro One from C$49.00 to C$53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Hydro One from C$51.00 to C$53.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lifted their price objective on Hydro One from C$52.00 to C$54.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Raymond James Financial increased their target price on Hydro One from C$49.00 to C$53.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Hydro One from C$52.00 to C$50.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$53.05.

Hydro One Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of C$33.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.22. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is C$53.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$52.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 140.53, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Hydro One (TSE:H) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 13th. The company reported C$0.39 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$981.00 million for the quarter. Hydro One had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 13.59%. Research analysts forecast that Hydro One Limited will post 2.0572195 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hydro One Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.3331 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.33 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Hydro One’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.66%.

Hydro One Company Profile

Hydro One operates regulated transmission and distribution assets in Ontario. The area’s largest electricity provider serves nearly 1.5 million customers. Transmission accounts for roughly 60% of the company’s rate base, with distribution accounting for the remainder. Hydro One operates a small telecom business, Acronym Solutions, with annual revenue contributing less than 1% to consolidated results. The province of Ontario holds an approximate 47% common equity stake.