Scotiabank Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Fortis Earnings

Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS) – Scotiabank cut their FY2027 earnings per share estimates for Fortis in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, July 7th. Scotiabank analyst R. Hope now anticipates that the company will post earnings per share of $3.82 for the year, down from their prior forecast of $3.84. The consensus estimate for Fortis’ current full-year earnings is $3.34 per share.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on shares of Fortis from C$78.50 to C$80.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. TD upped their target price on Fortis from C$83.00 to C$84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. National Bank Financial raised their target price on Fortis from C$75.00 to C$82.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Fortis from C$84.00 to C$83.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fortis has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$79.32.

Fortis Trading Up 1.0%

Fortis stock opened at C$81.67 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of C$78.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$76.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 145.23, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.49. Fortis has a one year low of C$63.54 and a one year high of C$82.67. The stock has a market cap of C$41.58 billion, a PE ratio of 24.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.41.

Fortis (TSE:FTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported C$0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Fortis had a net margin of 14.75% and a return on equity of 7.51%. The business had revenue of C$3.40 billion for the quarter.

Fortis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.64 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider James Reid sold 421 shares of Fortis stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$79.05, for a total value of C$33,280.05. Following the sale, the insider owned 31,283 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$2,472,921.15. This trade represents a 1.33% decrease in their position. Insiders purchased 572 shares of company stock valued at $45,909 over the last quarter. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.