National Bank Financial Predicts Weaker Earnings for Fortis

Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) – National Bank Financial cut their FY2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Fortis in a report issued on Monday, February 17th. National Bank Financial analyst P. Kenny now expects that the utilities provider will post earnings per share of $2.33 for the year, down from their prior estimate of $2.35. The consensus estimate for Fortis’ current full-year earnings is $2.35 per share. National Bank Financial also issued estimates for Fortis’ FY2026 earnings at $2.44 EPS.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 14th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.19% and a net margin of 14.12%. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.72 earnings per share.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Fortis in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Raymond James downgraded Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Fortis Price Performance

NYSE:FTS opened at $43.95 on Wednesday. Fortis has a 52 week low of $36.86 and a 52 week high of $46.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company has a market capitalization of $21.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.62, a P/E/G ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.50. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $42.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.57.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $0.4324 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.94%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.08%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortis

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Fortis by 34.1% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,006 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the period. JCIC Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fortis by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,087 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $211,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the period. Code Waechter LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fortis by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Code Waechter LLC now owns 18,708 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $778,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fortis by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 9,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $396,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fortis by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 6,265 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 282 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.77% 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.