Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eight analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $66.3333.

FTS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Fortis from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Fortis from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 3rd.

Fortis Price Performance

Shares of FTS opened at $54.94 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $28.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.24 and a beta of 0.43. Fortis has a fifty-two week low of $48.64 and a fifty-two week high of $59.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $57.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.61.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.01. Fortis had a net margin of 14.17% and a return on equity of 7.16%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.76 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Fortis will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.64 per share. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. Fortis’s payout ratio is 73.68%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortis

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in Fortis by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 35,241,451 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,966,121,000 after buying an additional 1,557,443 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Fortis by 2.3% in the 4th 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 last quarter. FIL Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Fortis by 9.1% in the 4th 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 last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its position in shares of Fortis by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 9,436,026 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $535,234,000 after acquiring an additional 129,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. raised its position in shares of Fortis by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 9,163,354 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $461,748,000 after acquiring an additional 326,212 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

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.