National Bank Financial Predicts Weaker Earnings for Fortis

Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) – Investment analysts at National Bank Financial reduced their FY2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Fortis in a note issued to investors on Monday, February 17th. National Bank Financial analyst P. Kenny now expects that the utilities provider will post earnings of $2.33 per share for the year, down from their previous forecast of $2.35. The consensus estimate for Fortis’ current full-year earnings is $2.35 per share. National Bank Financial also issued estimates for Fortis’ FY2026 earnings at $2.44 EPS.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.19% and a net margin of 14.12%. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS.

FTS has been the subject of several other reports. Raymond James cut Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Fortis in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Fortis Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:FTS opened at $43.95 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.57. The stock has a market cap of $21.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.62, a P/E/G ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.50. Fortis has a 1 year low of $36.86 and a 1 year high of $46.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.74.

Institutional Trading of Fortis

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its position in shares of Fortis by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 293,656 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,198,000 after purchasing an additional 2,628 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Fortis in the 4th quarter valued at about $216,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its position in shares of Fortis by 114.3% in the 4th quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 341,377 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,167,000 after purchasing an additional 182,101 shares during the period. Twinbeech Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Fortis in the 4th quarter valued at about $302,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of Fortis in the 4th quarter valued at about $289,000. 57.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.4324 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.94%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.08%.

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.