Fortis (TSE:FTS) Stock Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Shares of Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS) passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of C$71.64 and traded as high as C$78.63. Fortis shares last traded at C$78.38, with a volume of 3,055,420 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. National Bank Financial increased their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$68.00 to C$72.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Fortis from C$79.00 to C$80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Fortis from C$74.00 to C$77.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Fortis from C$72.00 to C$70.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on Fortis from C$75.50 to C$78.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$75.65.

Fortis Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 145.62. The firm has a 50 day moving average of C$73.84 and a 200-day moving average of C$71.69. The company has a market cap of C$39.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.03, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.35.

Fortis (TSE:FTS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported C$0.90 EPS for the quarter. Fortis had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 7.51%. The business had revenue of C$3.08 billion for the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fortis Inc. will post 3.3419913 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Sunday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.64 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Fortis’s payout ratio is presently 73.09%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Karen J. Gosse sold 8,412 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$78.18, for a total value of C$657,650.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 52,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$4,083,185.04. This trade represents a 13.87% decrease in their position. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Fortis

Fortis owns and operates 10 utility transmission and distribution assets in Canada and the United States, serving more than 3.4 million electricity and gas customers. The company has smaller stakes in electricity generation and several Caribbean utilities. ITC operates electric transmission in seven U.S. states, with more than 16,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines in operation serving a peak load in excess of 23 gigawatts.