Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Receives $61.00 Average PT from Brokerages

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $61.00.

A number of research firms have weighed in on FTS. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Fortis from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Thursday, May 7th.

Fortis Price Performance

Fortis stock opened at $57.52 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company has a market capitalization of $29.29 billion, a PE ratio of 23.38 and a beta of 0.43. Fortis has a 12 month low of $46.46 and a 12 month high of $58.78. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $56.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.44.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.56 billion. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.25% and a net margin of 14.21%.During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Fortis will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Fortis

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTS. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of Fortis by 40.5% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 175,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,150,000 after purchasing an additional 50,632 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its position in shares of Fortis by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 5,138,553 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $266,942,000 after buying an additional 204,151 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Fortis by 2.3% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA bought a new position in Fortis during the third quarter worth $8,215,000. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in Fortis in the third quarter valued at $1,891,000. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Fortis

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.