Fortis (TSE:FTS) Reaches New 52-Week High After Dividend Announcement

Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS) shares hit a new 52-week high on Friday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as C$64.11 and last traded at C$64.00, with a volume of 213515 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$62.89.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.615 dividend. This represents a $2.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.87%. Fortis’s payout ratio is 73.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on FTS. Raymond James cut shares of Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group set a C$67.00 price objective on shares of Fortis and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$63.00 to C$66.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, CIBC increased their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$63.00 to C$64.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$61.80.

Fortis Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 142.31. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is C$60.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$60.53. The company has a market capitalization of C$31.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.89, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortis

In other Fortis news, Senior Officer Jocelyn Perry sold 11,809 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$63.19, for a total transaction of C$746,178.83. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Fortis Company Profile

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.