National Bank Financial Forecasts Weaker Earnings for Fortis

Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS) – Equities researchers at National Bank Financial decreased their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Fortis in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, November 5th. National Bank Financial analyst P. Kenny now forecasts that the company will earn $3.07 per share for the year, down from their prior estimate of $3.16. 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 $3.40 EPS.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Fortis from C$59.00 to C$61.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$62.00 to C$65.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Raymond James downgraded shares of Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America set a C$60.00 target price on Fortis and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, CIBC raised their price target on Fortis from C$57.00 to C$59.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$60.33.

Fortis Stock Performance

TSE FTS opened at C$60.79 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of C$60.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$57.08. 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 stock has a market cap of C$30.10 billion, a PE ratio of 19.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.23. Fortis has a twelve month low of C$51.02 and a twelve month high of C$62.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Senior Officer James Reid sold 19,972 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$59.46, for a total value of C$1,187,493.18. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 1st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This is an increase from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.46%. Fortis’s payout ratio is currently 77.12%.

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.