Brokerages Set Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS) Target Price at C$60.33

Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Reduce" from the nine analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is C$60.33.

A number of brokerages have commented on FTS. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Fortis from C$59.00 to C$61.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Fortis from C$62.00 to C$65.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. National Bankshares boosted their price objective on Fortis from C$56.00 to C$62.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Raymond James cut Fortis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, CIBC boosted their price objective on Fortis from C$57.00 to C$59.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fortis news, Director Gary Joseph Smith sold 21,716 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$61.45, for a total transaction of C$1,334,543.75. Also, Senior Officer Keri Linda Glitch bought 450 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of C$61.41 per share, for a total transaction of C$27,634.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 450 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately C$27,634.59. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Fortis Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of FTS stock traded down C$0.28 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting C$62.85. 396,424 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,639,765. Fortis has a fifty-two week low of C$51.02 and a fifty-two week high of C$63.40. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of C$61.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$57.83. 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 stock has a market cap of C$31.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.79, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.23.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Sunday, December 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.28%. This is a positive change from Fortis's previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Fortis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.12%.

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.