Fortis (TSE:FTS) Stock Crosses Above 200 Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS)’s share price passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of C$72.55 and traded as high as C$76.28. Fortis shares last traded at C$75.69, with a volume of 861,026 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FTS has been the subject of a number of research reports. National Bank Financial lifted their price target on Fortis from C$68.00 to C$72.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Desjardins upped their price objective on Fortis from C$79.00 to C$81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Fortis from C$79.00 to C$80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Fortis from C$79.00 to C$80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce boosted their price target on Fortis from C$75.00 to C$76.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fortis presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$77.06.

Fortis Trading Up 0.8%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 145.62. The firm’s 50 day moving average is C$75.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$72.63. The stock has a market cap of C$38.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.45.

Fortis (TSE:FTS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported C$0.90 EPS for the quarter. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.51% and a net margin of 14.78%.The company had revenue of C$3.08 billion during the quarter. Equities analysts anticipate that Fortis Inc. will post 3.3419913 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Sunday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.64 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Fortis’s payout ratio is currently 73.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fortis news, insider Karen J. Gosse sold 8,412 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$78.18, for a total value of C$657,650.16. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 52,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$4,083,185.04. This trade represents a 13.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Fortis

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.