Fortis (TSE:FTS) Stock Crosses Above 200 Day Moving Average - Here's Why

Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS - Get Free Report) shares crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$59.52 and traded as high as C$61.39. Fortis shares last traded at C$61.03, with a volume of 1,408,533 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Fortis from C$62.00 to C$65.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Raymond James downgraded shares of Fortis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, CIBC increased their price target on shares of Fortis from C$63.00 to C$64.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fortis has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of C$60.89.

Fortis Trading Down 0.5 %

The firm has a market cap of C$30.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.04, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.23. The business has a fifty day moving average of C$60.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$59.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 128.59, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.69.

Fortis (TSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported C$0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$0.81 by C$0.04. Fortis had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 7.44%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Fortis Inc. will post 3.3419913 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Sunday, December 1st were given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is an increase from Fortis's previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Fortis's payout ratio is currently 77.12%.

Insider Transactions at Fortis

In other news, Senior Officer Jocelyn Perry sold 11,809 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$63.19, for a total transaction of C$746,178.83. Also, Director Gary Joseph Smith sold 21,716 shares of Fortis stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$61.45, for a total value of C$1,334,543.75. Insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

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.