Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eight analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $66.3333.

FTS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Friday, July 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Fortis from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Fortis from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th.

Fortis Price Performance

Shares of FTS opened at $54.69 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. Fortis has a 1 year low of $48.64 and a 1 year high of $59.40. The stock has a market cap of $27.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.14 and a beta of 0.43. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $56.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.61.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.16% and a net margin of 14.17%.During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.76 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Fortis will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be issued a $0.64 dividend. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is 73.68%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortis

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FTS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Fortis by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,129,958 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,254,541,000 after buying an additional 536,118 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 37.7% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 333,219 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,590,000 after buying an additional 91,219 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Fortis by 39.0% during the first quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,088,628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,720,000 after acquiring an additional 305,450 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Fortis by 4.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,557,443 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Fortis by 103.4% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 48,777 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,714,000 after acquiring an additional 24,800 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

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.