Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $61.00.

A number of research firms recently commented on FTS. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Friday, February 13th. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Barclays decreased their price target on Fortis from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Friday, February 13th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortis

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Fortis by 4.6% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 35,241,451 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,966,121,000 after purchasing an additional 1,557,443 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Fortis by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,129,958 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,254,541,000 after acquiring an additional 536,118 shares during the period. FIL Ltd boosted its stake in Fortis by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 19,898,613 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,034,545,000 after acquiring an additional 1,666,481 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Fortis by 0.4% in the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 13,531,955 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $686,518,000 after acquiring an additional 57,447 shares during the period. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. boosted its stake in Fortis by 3.7% in the third quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 9,163,354 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $461,748,000 after acquiring an additional 326,212 shares during the period. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortis Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of Fortis stock opened at $55.74 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $56.24 and a 200-day moving average of $54.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The company has a market capitalization of $28.37 billion, a PE ratio of 22.66 and a beta of 0.43. Fortis has a 1-year low of $46.46 and a 1-year high of $58.78.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.56 billion. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.25% and a net margin of 14.21%.During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Fortis will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Company Profile

Fortis Inc is a Canadian diversified electric and gas utility holding company headquartered in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. Through a portfolio of regulated utility subsidiaries, the company develops, owns and operates electricity and natural gas transmission, distribution and generation assets. Fortis serves customers across multiple jurisdictions in Canada, the United States and the Caribbean, focusing on the delivery of safe, reliable energy to residential, commercial and industrial users.

The company’s core activities include operation and maintenance of transmission and distribution networks, ownership of generation facilities, and investment in grid modernization and system resilience.