Barclays Cuts Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Price Target to $60.00

by · The Cerbat Gem

Fortis (NYSE:FTS – Free Report) had its price target lowered by Barclays from $61.00 to $60.00 in a research note released on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on FTS. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce downgraded shares of Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Fortis from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.33.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Fortis

Fortis Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE FTS opened at $56.31 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. Fortis has a 52 week low of $48.64 and a 52 week high of $59.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.80 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a fifty day moving average of $57.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.32.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.83 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 14.17% and a return on equity of 7.16%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.76 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Fortis will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortis Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.87%.

Institutional Trading of Fortis

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Fortis by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 35,241,451 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,966,121,000 after purchasing an additional 1,557,443 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 2.3% in 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. FIL Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 19,898,613 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,034,545,000 after buying an additional 1,666,481 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc. grew its position in shares of Fortis by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 9,163,354 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $461,748,000 after buying an additional 326,212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. grew its position in shares of Fortis by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 8,564,134 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $445,335,000 after buying an additional 677,226 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

About Fortis

(Get Free Report)

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.

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