Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Plans C$0.64 Quarterly Dividend

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be paid a dividend of 0.64 per share by the utilities provider on Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th.

Fortis has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 5 years. Fortis has a payout ratio of 73.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Fortis to earn $2.75 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.88 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 68.4%.

Fortis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FTS opened at $57.62 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.14. The stock has a market cap of $29.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.42 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Fortis has a 12 month low of $48.53 and a 12 month high of $59.40.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.02. Fortis had a net margin of 14.21% and a return on equity of 7.25%. The firm had revenue of $2.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Fortis will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on FTS. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce downgraded Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Barclays lowered their target price on Fortis from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Friday, July 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.00.

About Fortis

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.