Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Reaches New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $47.94 and last traded at $47.53, with a volume of 82423 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $46.16.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Fortis in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Fortis has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Fortis Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $23.97 billion, a PE ratio of 20.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.46. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last released 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 7.09% and a net margin of 14.12%. The business had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Fortis Inc. will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.4324 dividend. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.03%.

Institutional Trading of Fortis

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FTS. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Fortis during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $182,242,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Fortis by 77.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,257,486 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $180,686,000 after acquiring an additional 1,853,082 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 42.1% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,443,333 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $184,878,000 after acquiring an additional 1,316,394 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in Fortis by 21.8% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 5,190,336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $235,839,000 after purchasing an additional 930,331 shares during the period. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank increased its holdings in Fortis by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 6,218,116 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $258,068,000 after purchasing an additional 612,395 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

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.