National Bank Financial Cuts Earnings Estimates for Fortis

Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) – Equities researchers at National Bank Financial cut their FY2024 earnings estimates for shares of Fortis in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, November 5th. National Bank Financial analyst P. Kenny now anticipates that the utilities provider will post earnings per share of $2.21 for the year, down from their prior estimate of $2.28. The consensus estimate for Fortis’ current full-year earnings is $2.33 per share. National Bank Financial also issued estimates for Fortis’ FY2025 earnings at $2.45 EPS.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Bank of America initiated coverage on Fortis in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They set an “underperform” rating on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Fortis from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 4th. UBS Group raised shares of Fortis to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce”.

Fortis Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:FTS opened at $43.86 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $44.45 and its 200 day moving average is $41.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.58. Fortis has a 1 year low of $36.86 and a 1 year high of $46.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.47.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.26. Fortis had a net margin of 13.90% and a return on equity of 7.04%. The business had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.615 per share. This represents a $2.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.61%. This is a positive change from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Fortis’s payout ratio is 72.46%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake 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 during the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Fortis in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fortis by 53.6% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 992 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fortis during the 1st quarter worth $69,000. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fortis by 52.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 630 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

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.