FY2024 Earnings Estimate for Fortis Issued By Scotiabank

Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) – Investment analysts at Scotiabank lowered their FY2024 earnings estimates for Fortis in a research note issued on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank analyst R. Hope now forecasts that the utilities provider will post earnings per share of $2.27 for the year, down from their prior estimate of $2.40. The consensus estimate for Fortis’ current full-year earnings is $2.32 per share. Scotiabank also issued estimates for Fortis’ FY2025 earnings at $2.33 EPS.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on FTS. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Fortis in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set an “underperform” rating for the company. Raymond James downgraded Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th.

Fortis Price Performance

Fortis stock opened at $40.79 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.29 billion, a PE ratio of 17.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.50. Fortis has a 52 week low of $36.86 and a 52 week high of $46.06. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.26. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.01% and a net margin of 14.06%. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.63 EPS.

Institutional Trading of Fortis

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 34.1% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,006 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Fortis by 52.2% in the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 630 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its holdings in Fortis by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 7,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $357,000 after buying an additional 910 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new position in shares of Fortis during the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Fortis by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 16,094 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $731,000 after acquiring an additional 1,356 shares during the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.4382 dividend. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.30%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Fortis’s payout ratio is 76.05%.

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.