Fortis (TSE:FTS) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as C$71.18 and last traded at C$70.90, with a volume of 240824 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$70.18.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on FTS shares. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$69.00 to C$72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Fortis from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Desjardins upgraded shares of Fortis from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from C$71.00 to C$76.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$70.00 to C$73.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$70.00 to C$72.00 in a research report on Monday, September 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$71.22.

Fortis Trading Up 1.8%

The firm has a market capitalization of C$35.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.02, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.28. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is C$69.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$66.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 142.31.

Fortis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 1st were given a dividend of $0.615 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $2.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.62%.

About Fortis

Fortis owns and operates 10 utility transmission and distribution assets in Canada and the United States, serving more than 3.4 million electricity and gas customers. The company has smaller stakes in electricity generation and several Caribbean utilities. ITC operates electric transmission in seven U.S.