Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS) Given Average Rating of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Shares of Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS) have been assigned an average rating of “Reduce” from the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$60.33.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on FTS shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Fortis from C$59.00 to C$61.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. UBS Group upgraded Fortis to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. CIBC lifted their target price on Fortis from C$57.00 to C$59.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. National Bankshares lifted their target price on Fortis from C$56.00 to C$62.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on Fortis from C$56.00 to C$63.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th.

Fortis Stock Down 0.9 %

TSE:FTS opened at C$59.21 on Thursday. Fortis has a 12-month low of C$51.02 and a 12-month high of C$62.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 128.59. The firm has a market capitalization of C$29.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.23. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is C$60.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$56.96.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 1st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This is an increase from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.61%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortis

In related news, Senior Officer James Reid sold 19,972 shares of Fortis stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$59.46, for a total value of C$1,187,493.18. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.