Fortis Inc (NYSE:FTS) – National Bank Financial upped their FY2019 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Fortis in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, August 5th, Zacks Investment Research reports. National Bank Financial analyst P. Kenny now anticipates that the utilities provider will post earnings of $2.02 per share for the year, up from their previous forecast of $1.94. National Bank Financial also issued estimates for Fortis’ FY2020 earnings at $2.13 EPS.
Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.11. Fortis had a net margin of 12.72% and a return on equity of 6.80%. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.57 EPS.
Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. ValuEngine lowered shares of Fortis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. CIBC lowered shares of Fortis from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Friday, June 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Veritas Investment Research lowered shares of Fortis from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. The company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.20.
Shares of FTS stock traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $41.27. 254,048 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 360,867. Fortis has a 12-month low of $31.37 and a 12-month high of $41.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $40.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.14 and a beta of 0.18.
Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Fortis by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 312,353 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,358,000 after purchasing an additional 9,953 shares in the last quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. grew its position in Fortis by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 1,293,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,844,000 after purchasing an additional 72,491 shares during the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden grew its position in Fortis by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 304,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,272,000 after purchasing an additional 23,700 shares during the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA purchased a new stake in Fortis during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $320,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Fortis by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,619,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $96,912,000 after purchasing an additional 178,476 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.13% of the company’s stock.
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.344 per share. This is a positive change from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $1.38 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.68%.
About Fortis
Fortis Inc operates as an electric and gas utility company in Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean. It generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to approximately 425,000 retail customers in southeastern Arizona; and 97,000 retail customers in Arizona’s Mohave and Santa Cruz counties with an aggregate capacity of 3,377 MW (MW), including 57 MW of solar capacity.