National Bank Financial Predicts Fortis FY2024 Earnings

Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS) – Stock analysts at National Bank Financial increased their FY2024 earnings estimates for Fortis in a research report issued on Monday, January 6th. National Bank Financial analyst P. Kenny now forecasts that the company will post earnings per share of $3.22 for the year, up from their previous forecast of $3.07. The consensus estimate for Fortis’ current full-year earnings is $3.34 per share. National Bank Financial also issued estimates for Fortis’ FY2025 earnings at $3.37 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $3.53 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $3.75 EPS.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on FTS. Raymond James lowered shares of Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America set a C$60.00 price objective on Fortis and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Fortis from C$62.00 to C$65.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, CIBC upped their price target on Fortis from C$63.00 to C$64.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$60.89.

Fortis Stock Performance

Shares of FTS stock opened at C$60.25 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 128.59. The business has a 50 day moving average of C$61.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$59.21. The company has a market cap of C$29.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.89, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.23. Fortis has a 52 week low of C$51.02 and a 52 week high of C$63.75.

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 issued a $0.83 dividend. This is a boost from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fortis news, Director Gary Joseph Smith sold 21,716 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 purchased 450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of C$61.41 per share, with a total value of C$27,634.59. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 450 shares in the company, valued at C$27,634.59. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

About Fortis

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.