Fortis (TSE:FTS) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as C$63.75 and last traded at C$63.48, with a volume of 74338 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$63.05.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on FTS shares. National Bankshares lifted their target price 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. UBS Group upgraded shares of Fortis to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$62.00 to C$65.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Fortis from C$56.00 to C$63.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Bank of America set a C$60.00 price target on Fortis and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$60.33.

Fortis Stock Down 0.9 %

The firm has a market cap of C$30.94 billion, a PE ratio of 19.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of C$61.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$58.12. 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Sunday, December 1st were issued a $0.83 dividend. 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 5.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Fortis’s payout ratio is presently 77.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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. Also, Senior Officer Keri Linda Glitch bought 450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of C$61.41 per share, with a total value of C$27,634.59. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$27,634.59. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company 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.