Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS) Given Average Rating of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Shares of Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS) have received an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the nine brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$60.33.

Several brokerages recently commented on FTS. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$62.00 to C$65.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group upgraded Fortis to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Raymond James lowered Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America set a C$60.00 target price on Fortis and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Fortis from C$59.00 to C$61.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 5th.

Fortis Stock Performance

Fortis stock opened at C$60.05 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 128.59. The stock has a market cap of C$29.74 billion, a PE ratio of 18.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.23. Fortis has a 12-month low of C$51.02 and a 12-month high of C$63.75. The business’s 50-day moving average price is C$61.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$58.85.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Sunday, December 1st were issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This is a boost from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.53%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortis

In other Fortis news, Senior Officer Jocelyn Perry sold 11,809 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$63.19, for a total transaction of C$746,178.83. Also, Senior Officer Keri Linda Glitch acquired 450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of C$61.41 per share, for a total transaction of C$27,634.59. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 450 shares in the company, valued at C$27,634.59. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.