Fortis (TSE:FTS) Stock Price Crosses Above 200-Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS)’s stock price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$58.86 and traded as high as C$60.50. Fortis shares last traded at C$60.35, with a volume of 672,544 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on FTS shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$62.00 to C$65.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group upgraded shares of Fortis to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Bank of America set a C$60.00 price objective on shares of Fortis and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Fortis from C$59.00 to C$61.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Raymond James cut Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$60.33.

Fortis Trading Up 0.5 %

The company has a market cap of C$29.89 billion, a PE ratio of 18.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 128.59. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of C$61.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$58.86.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 1st were paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.50%. This is an increase from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.12%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gary Joseph Smith sold 21,716 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$61.45, for a total value of C$1,334,543.75. Also, Senior Officer Keri Linda Glitch bought 450 shares of Fortis stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of C$61.41 per share, for a total transaction of C$27,634.59. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 450 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$27,634.59. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Fortis Company Profile

Fortis Inc operates as an electric and gas utility company in Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean countries. It generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to approximately 447,000 retail customers in southeastern Arizona; and 103,000 retail customers in Arizona’s Mohave and Santa Cruz counties with an aggregate capacity of 3,408 megawatts (MW), including 68 MW of solar capacity and 250 MV of wind capacity.