Scotiabank Has Positive Outlook for Fortis FY2024 Earnings

Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS - Free Report) - Equities research analysts at Scotiabank boosted their FY2024 EPS estimates for Fortis in a research note issued on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank analyst R. Hope now expects that the company will post earnings per share of $3.27 for the year, up from their prior estimate of $3.24. The consensus estimate for Fortis' current full-year earnings is $3.34 per share. Scotiabank also issued estimates for Fortis' FY2026 earnings at $3.51 EPS.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on FTS. CIBC lifted their target price on Fortis from C$63.00 to C$64.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America set a C$60.00 target price on shares of Fortis and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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. Finally, Raymond James cut shares of Fortis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fortis presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of C$60.89.

Fortis Stock Down 2.2 %

FTS traded down C$1.33 during midday trading on Friday, reaching C$58.92. 3,115,352 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,210,296. The company has a market cap of C$29.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.23. Fortis has a one year low of C$51.02 and a one year high of C$63.75. The company's fifty day moving average price is C$61.07 and its 200 day moving average price is C$59.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 128.59, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gary Joseph Smith sold 21,716 shares of Fortis stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$61.45, for a total value of C$1,334,543.75. Also, Senior Officer Keri Linda Glitch acquired 450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of C$61.41 per share, for a total transaction 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 position. Insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

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 issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.63%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This is an increase from Fortis's previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Fortis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.12%.

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.