National Bank Financial Lowers Earnings Estimates for Fortis

Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) - Stock analysts at National Bank Financial decreased their FY2024 earnings estimates for Fortis in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, November 5th. National Bank Financial analyst P. Kenny now anticipates that the utilities provider will post earnings per share of $2.21 for the year, down from their previous estimate of $2.28. The consensus estimate for Fortis' current full-year earnings is $2.33 per share. National Bank Financial also issued estimates for Fortis' FY2025 earnings at $2.45 EPS.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Fortis in a report on Friday, September 20th. They set an "underperform" rating for the company. Raymond James downgraded shares of Fortis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Fortis from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, August 4th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Fortis to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fortis has an average rating of "Reduce".

Fortis Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of FTS traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $43.86. 530,835 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 700,873. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.81 billion, a PE ratio of 18.58, a PEG ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.47. Fortis has a 52 week low of $36.86 and a 52 week high of $46.06.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.26. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.04% and a net margin of 13.90%. The business had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.63 EPS.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FTS. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in Fortis by 26.9% in the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 9,071,484 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $352,336,000 after purchasing an additional 1,920,728 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Fortis by 31.4% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,142,695 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $83,259,000 after buying an additional 512,103 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in Fortis by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 12,151,327 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $472,164,000 after buying an additional 270,417 shares in the last quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Fortis by 42.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 782,827 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $30,418,000 after buying an additional 233,743 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Fortis by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,072,102 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $793,049,000 after acquiring an additional 229,972 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.77% of the company's stock.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.615 per share. This is an increase from Fortis's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.61%. Fortis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.46%.

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.