National Bank Financial Predicts Fortis Q3 Earnings

Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) - Stock analysts at National Bank Financial issued their Q3 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Fortis in a report released on Wednesday, October 23rd. National Bank Financial analyst P. Kenny expects that the utilities provider will post earnings of $0.59 per share for the quarter. The consensus estimate for Fortis' current full-year earnings is $2.35 per share.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. UBS Group upgraded Fortis to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Fortis from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 4th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Fortis in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued an "underperform" rating on the stock.

Fortis Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of FTS traded down $0.42 on Friday, hitting $43.80. 450,198 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 701,174. Fortis has a 1 year low of $36.86 and a 1 year high of $46.06. The stock's 50 day moving average is $44.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 13.90% and a return on equity of 7.04%.

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 paid a dividend of $0.615 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This is a boost from Fortis's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.62%. Fortis's payout ratio is currently 78.02%.

Institutional Trading of Fortis

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Fortis by 53.6% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 992 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Fortis by 123.5% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 666 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in Fortis by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. now owns 81,179 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,208,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC raised its holdings in Fortis by 0.5% in the second quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 83,765 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,253,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Addison Capital Co lifted its position in Fortis by 1.1% during the second quarter. Addison Capital Co now owns 39,391 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,530,000 after buying an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.