National Bank Financial Forecasts Fortis FY2024 Earnings

Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) – National Bank Financial lifted their FY2024 earnings estimates for Fortis in a research note issued on Monday, January 6th. National Bank Financial analyst P. Kenny now expects that the utilities provider will earn $2.24 per share for the year, up from their previous forecast of $2.21. The consensus estimate for Fortis’ current full-year earnings is $2.32 per share. National Bank Financial also issued estimates for Fortis’ FY2025 earnings at $2.35 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $2.46 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $2.61 EPS.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Bank of America began coverage on Fortis in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued an “underperform” rating on the stock. Raymond James cut Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th.

Fortis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FTS opened at $41.95 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.63. Fortis has a 1 year low of $36.86 and a 1 year high of $46.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.50.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.26. Fortis had a net margin of 14.06% and a return on equity of 7.01%. The company had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.63 EPS.

Institutional Trading of Fortis

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new stake in shares of Fortis during the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Fortis by 34.1% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,006 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fortis by 52.2% during the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 630 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Fortis during the third quarter worth about $149,000. Finally, CHICAGO TRUST Co NA bought a new stake in shares of Fortis during the third quarter worth about $209,000. Institutional investors own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.4382 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.18%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.05%.

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.