Raymond James, an equities research firm, has reduced its Q2 2023 earnings forecast for Fortis Inc. (FTS:NYE) in a report released on May 4th. The analyst, D. Quezada, now expects the utility provider to earn $0.47 per Fortis stock share for the quarter, down from the previous estimate of $0.50. Raymond James also issued estimates for Fortis’ Q3 2023 earnings at $0.53 EPS, Q4 2023 earnings at $0.53 EPS, and FY2024 earnings at $2.28 EPS.
Fortis Stock-Analyst Ratings:
Several other research firms have also provided their opinions on Fortis stock. Scotiabank raised their target price from C$57.00 to C$58.00 on January 23rd.
Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Fortis on March 24th.
National Bank Financial increased their price target on shares of Fortis from C$55.00 to C$56.00 on February 13th, while CIBC raised their price target from C$55.00 to C$57.00 on January 10th.
Fortis Stock Price Analysis:
Fortis’ shares traded up 1.4% and opened at $45.45 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.05.
Fortis has a market cap of $22.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.70, and a beta of 0.44. Its fifty-two-week low was $34.76, while its fifty-two-week high was $50.89. The company’s debt-to-equity ratio is 1.25, its quick ratio is 0.55, and its current ratio is 0.68.
Based on data from Stock Target Advisor, the company currently has an average consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $59.42.
Previous Earnings Review:
Fortis announced its quarterly earnings data on February 10th. The utility provider reported earnings per share of $0.53 for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53. The company had revenue of $2.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.06 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 12.42% and a return on equity of 6.63%.
Hedge Funds & Institutional Holdings:
Institutional investors have bought and sold shares of Fortis stock recently. Cigna Investments Inc. New increased its stake in Fortis by 7.0% in the third quarter, while Aviva PLC increased its stake by 6.4%.
Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake by 6.1%, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC increased its stake by 1,306.8%, and Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. increased its stake by 102.4% in the fourth quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds currently own 49.59% of the Fortis stock.
Fortis Stock Dividend:
Despite the lowered earnings estimates, Fortis has increased its quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.4211 per share, up from the previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.13%.
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 443,000 retail customers in southeastern Arizona; and 102,000 retail customers in Arizona’s Mohave and Santa Cruz counties with an aggregate capacity of 3,328 megawatts (MW), including 68 MW of solar capacity and 250 MV of wind capacity.
It also owns and operates approximately 90,200 circuit Kilometers (km) of distribution lines; and approximately 51,200 km of natural gas pipelines. Fortis Inc. was founded in 1885 and is headquartered in St. John’s, Canada.
