Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Credit Suisse Group cut their target price on Fortis from $61.50 to $60.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 24th. Raymond James decreased their price target on Fortis from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.21.

Fortis Stock Performance

Shares of FTS opened at $39.73 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.32 billion, a PE ratio of 17.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.45. Fortis has a 12-month low of $34.76 and a 12-month high of $46.28. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $41.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.11.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46. The firm had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.99 billion. Fortis had a return on equity of 6.68% and a net margin of 12.40%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.44 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Fortis will post 2.23 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTS. Bank of Montreal Can purchased a new stake in shares of Fortis during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,134,029,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Fortis during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $104,121,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Fortis by 48.5% during the first quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 5,631,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $239,353,000 after acquiring an additional 1,838,267 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd boosted its position in shares of Fortis by 11.7% during the first quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 15,423,380 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $655,622,000 after buying an additional 1,613,888 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in shares of Fortis by 31.2% during the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 6,692,276 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $288,404,000 after buying an additional 1,590,850 shares during the last quarter. 50.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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 443,000 retail customers in southeastern Arizona; and 102,000 retail customers in Arizona's Mohave and Santa Cruz counties with an aggregate capacity of 3,328 megawatts (MW), including 68 MW of solar capacity and 250 MV of wind capacity.