Fortis (TSE:FTS) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS) shares hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as C$63.40 and last traded at C$62.90, with a volume of 3815559 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$63.13.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on FTS shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Fortis from C$62.00 to C$65.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Raymond James lowered Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. CIBC increased their price target on Fortis from C$57.00 to C$59.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Fortis from C$56.00 to C$63.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Bank of America set a C$60.00 price objective on Fortis and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$60.33.

Fortis Trading Up 0.3 %

The firm has a market capitalization of C$31.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.23. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of C$61.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$58.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 128.59.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Sunday, December 1st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This is a positive change from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.28%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is 77.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Senior Officer Keri Linda Glitch bought 450 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of C$61.41 per share, for a total transaction of C$27,634.59. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 450 shares in the company, 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 stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$61.45, for a total value of C$1,334,543.75. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.