Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) to Post Q1 2024 Earnings of $0.67 Per Share, National Bank Financial Forecasts

Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) – National Bank Financial issued their Q1 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Fortis in a research note issued on Tuesday, April 23rd. National Bank Financial analyst P. Kenny expects that the utilities provider will post earnings per share of $0.67 for the quarter. The consensus estimate for Fortis’ current full-year earnings is $2.39 per share.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.39 billion. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.00% and a net margin of 13.22%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.53 EPS.

Separately, StockNews.com cut Fortis from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.13.

Fortis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FTS opened at $39.16 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.03, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.42. The business has a 50-day moving average of $39.09 and a 200-day moving average of $39.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.58. Fortis has a fifty-two week low of $36.30 and a fifty-two week high of $46.28.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $0.4382 dividend. This is an increase from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.48%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.65%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortis

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rational Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Fortis in the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in Fortis during the first quarter worth approximately $60,000. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Fortis during the third quarter worth approximately $96,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its position in Fortis by 111.2% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,598 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $107,000 after acquiring an additional 1,368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gulf International Bank UK Ltd lifted its position in Fortis by 9.0% during the first quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 3,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $132,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.