Fortis (TSE:FTS) Sets New 52-Week High - Still a Buy?

Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as C$63.40 and last traded at C$62.90, with a volume of 3815559 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$63.13.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FTS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America set a C$60.00 target price on shares of Fortis and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Raymond James lowered shares of Fortis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Fortis from C$62.00 to C$65.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. National Bankshares lifted their price target 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, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Fortis from C$59.00 to C$61.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fortis has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of C$60.33.

Fortis Stock Down 0.3 %

The company has a market cap of C$31.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of C$61.20 and a 200 day moving average price of C$57.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 128.59, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 1st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.29%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This is a boost from Fortis's previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Fortis's payout ratio is presently 77.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.