Fortis (TSE:FTS) PT Raised to C$62.00 at Royal Bank of Canada

Fortis (TSE:FTS) had its target price boosted by Royal Bank of Canada from C$61.00 to C$62.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning, BayStreet.CA reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Fortis from C$58.50 to C$59.00 in a research note on Thursday. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$60.00 to C$56.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$52.00 to C$53.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. CIBC lifted their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$57.00 to C$59.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$56.00 to C$59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of C$58.17.

Fortis Trading Up 1.2 %

TSE FTS traded up C$0.68 on Thursday, hitting C$58.58. 148,221 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,593,897. Fortis has a 52-week low of C$49.82 and a 52-week high of C$58.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 128.89, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The company has a market capitalization of C$28.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.18. The company’s 50-day moving average price is C$54.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$53.94.

Fortis (TSE:FTS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported C$0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of C$0.89 by C$0.04. The company had revenue of C$3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$3.34 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 14.11% and a return on equity of 7.38%. Research analysts predict that Fortis will post 3.2075145 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 20th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.03%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.40%.

Insider Activity at Fortis

In other Fortis news, Senior Officer James Reid acquired 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 19th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of C$52.37 per share, for a total transaction of C$36,659.00. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Fortis

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.