National Bank Financial Boosts Earnings Estimates for Fortis

Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS) – Investment analysts at National Bank Financial increased their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Fortis in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, January 6th. National Bank Financial analyst P. Kenny now expects that the company will earn $3.22 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $3.07. The consensus estimate for Fortis’ current full-year earnings is $3.34 per share. National Bank Financial also issued estimates for Fortis’ FY2025 earnings at $3.37 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $3.53 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $3.75 EPS.

FTS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Fortis from C$62.00 to C$65.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. CIBC boosted their target price on shares of Fortis from C$63.00 to C$64.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America set a C$60.00 price target on Fortis and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Raymond James cut Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$60.89.

Fortis Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Fortis stock opened at C$60.25 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of C$29.84 billion, a PE ratio of 18.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 128.59, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.69. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of C$61.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$59.21. Fortis has a 52-week low of C$51.02 and a 52-week high of C$63.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortis

In other Fortis news, Senior Officer Keri Linda Glitch bought 450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of C$61.41 per share, for a total transaction of C$27,634.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$27,634.59. This represents a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. Also, Director Gary Joseph Smith sold 21,716 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$61.45, for a total value of C$1,334,543.75. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 1st were paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.51%. This is a boost from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Fortis’s payout ratio is presently 77.12%.

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.