Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the nine analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is C$60.33.

FTS has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group raised shares of Fortis to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Fortis from C$62.00 to C$65.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Fortis from C$59.00 to C$61.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Bank of America set a C$60.00 price objective on Fortis and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Raymond James lowered Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Senior Officer Keri Linda Glitch purchased 450 shares of Fortis stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of C$61.41 per share, for a total transaction of C$27,634.59. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$27,634.59. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. Also, Senior Officer Jocelyn Perry sold 11,809 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$63.19, for a total transaction of C$746,178.83. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Fortis Price Performance

TSE FTS opened at C$59.30 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 128.59. Fortis has a 12-month low of C$51.02 and a 12-month high of C$63.75. The company has a market capitalization of C$29.37 billion, a PE ratio of 18.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.23. The firm’s 50 day moving average is C$61.32 and its 200-day moving average is C$58.63.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 1st were paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.60%. This is a boost from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.12%.

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.