Royal Bank Of Canada Issues Positive Forecast for Fortis (TSE:FTS) Stock Price

Fortis (TSE:FTS) had its price target boosted by Royal Bank Of Canada from C$79.00 to C$80.00 in a report released on Friday,BayStreet.CA reports. Royal Bank Of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on FTS. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Fortis from C$74.00 to C$77.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Fortis from C$72.00 to C$70.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on Fortis from C$72.00 to C$75.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Fortis from C$79.00 to C$80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Desjardins increased their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$76.00 to C$79.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$75.65.

Fortis Price Performance

Shares of TSE:FTS opened at C$77.42 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of C$71.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$70.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 142.31, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market cap of C$39.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.35. Fortis has a fifty-two week low of C$60.94 and a fifty-two week high of C$77.59.

Fortis (TSE:FTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported C$0.90 EPS for the quarter. Fortis had a net margin of 14.53% and a return on equity of 7.48%. The firm had revenue of C$3.08 billion during the quarter. On average, analysts expect that Fortis will post 3.3419913 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortis Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Sunday, March 1st will be given a $0.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.21%.

Key Stories Impacting Fortis

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortis this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 earnings beat — Fortis reported C$0.90 EPS and C$3.08B revenue; commentary pointed to strong regulated utility growth and asset expansion. Fortis beats Q4 earnings expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Quarterly dividend declared — C$0.64 per share (annualized yield ~3.3%); ex-dividend date Feb 17, record date Mar 1. Income investors may favor the stock on the payout stability.
• Positive Sentiment: Desjardins raised its target to C$81 and kept a “buy” rating (largest upside among recent raises). BayStreet.CA
• Positive Sentiment: Raymond James raised its target to C$78.50 and kept an “outperform” rating, signaling continued bullish analyst view. BayStreet.CA TickerReport
• Neutral Sentiment: RBC and Scotiabank raised targets to C$80 (both keep “sector perform”) — modest upside but not full upgrades. BayStreet.CA
• Negative Sentiment: BMO lifted its target to C$77 and maintains a “market perform” rating — the target sits slightly below the recent price, implying limited upside/neutral-to-slightly-negative near term. BayStreet.CA

Fortis Company Profile

Fortis owns and operates 10 utility transmission and distribution assets in Canada and the United States, serving more than 3.4 million electricity and gas customers. The company has smaller stakes in electricity generation and several Caribbean utilities. ITC operates electric transmission in seven U.S. states, with more than 16,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines in operation serving a peak load in excess of 23 gigawatts.