Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Downgraded to Market Perform Rating by Raymond James

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Raymond James from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. Raymond James also issued estimates for Fortis’ FY2024 earnings at $2.37 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $0.67 EPS and Q2 2025 earnings at $0.47 EPS.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Fortis from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 4th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Fortis in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They issued an “underperform” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Fortis to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce”.

Fortis Price Performance

Shares of FTS stock opened at $43.86 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Fortis has a 12-month low of $36.86 and a 12-month high of $46.06. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $44.45 and a 200-day moving average of $41.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.47.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.26. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.04% and a net margin of 13.90%. The company had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Fortis will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTS. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Fortis by 123.5% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 666 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new stake in Fortis during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in Fortis by 53.6% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 992 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Fortis in the first quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Fortis during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $80,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.