Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Declares C$0.64 Quarterly Dividend

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, December 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a dividend of 0.64 per share by the utilities provider on Sunday, March 1st. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th.

Fortis has decreased its dividend by an average of 0.0%per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 5 years. Fortis has a dividend payout ratio of 71.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Fortis to earn $2.47 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.82 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 73.7%.

Fortis Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE FTS opened at $51.08 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.28, a P/E/G ratio of 4.83 and a beta of 0.50. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.54. Fortis has a one year low of $40.32 and a one year high of $52.83.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.02). Fortis had a return on equity of 7.05% and a net margin of 14.18%.The business had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. Research analysts expect that Fortis will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FTS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Monday, October 6th. Zacks Research cut Fortis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. National Bankshares reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Fortis has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.00.

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.