Fortis Inc. to Post FY2024 Earnings of $2.34 Per Share, Raymond James Forecasts (NYSE:FTS)

Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) – Equities researchers at Raymond James increased their FY2024 EPS estimates for shares of Fortis in a research report issued on Wednesday, May 1st. Raymond James analyst D. Quezada now expects that the utilities provider will post earnings of $2.34 per share for the year, up from their previous forecast of $2.33. The consensus estimate for Fortis’ current full-year earnings is $2.35 per share. Raymond James also issued estimates for Fortis’ Q4 2024 earnings at $0.62 EPS.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.39 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 13.66% and a return on equity of 7.02%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.53 EPS.

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Fortis from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.13.

Fortis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FTS opened at $39.91 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $19.68 billion, a PE ratio of 17.20, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Fortis has a 1-year low of $36.30 and a 1-year high of $46.28. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $39.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.94.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.4382 per share. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.39%. This is an increase from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.17%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortis

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Rational Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortis during the 3rd quarter worth about $41,000. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Fortis in the 1st quarter valued at about $60,000. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Fortis in the 3rd quarter valued at about $96,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fortis by 111.2% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,598 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 1,368 shares during the period. Finally, Gulf International Bank UK Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Fortis by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 3,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $132,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the period. 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.