Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Sets New 12-Month High - Still a Buy?

Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $48.56 and last traded at $48.11, with a volume of 321053 shares. The stock had previously closed at $48.18.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Fortis in a report on Thursday, February 13th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold".

Fortis Stock Up 0.1 %

The company has a market cap of $24.37 billion, a PE ratio of 20.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The company's 50 day moving average is $45.47 and its 200 day moving average is $43.99.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. Fortis had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 7.09%. The business had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Fortis Inc. will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $0.4324 dividend. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Fortis's dividend payout ratio is 72.03%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortis

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Fortis by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,722,993 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $902,656,000 after acquiring an additional 364,391 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fortis by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,266,121 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $509,425,000 after purchasing an additional 173,226 shares in the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. increased its holdings in Fortis by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 9,148,037 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $379,614,000 after buying an additional 329,767 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in Fortis by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 6,218,116 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $258,068,000 after buying an additional 612,395 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Fortis by 42.1% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,443,333 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $184,878,000 after buying an additional 1,316,394 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.77% 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.