National Bank Financial Boosts Earnings Estimates for Fortis

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) – Research analysts at National Bank Financial raised their FY2025 earnings estimates for shares of Fortis in a note issued to investors on Monday, August 4th. National Bank Financial analyst P. Kenny now anticipates that the utilities provider will earn $2.49 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $2.45. The consensus estimate for Fortis’ current full-year earnings is $2.35 per share. National Bank Financial also issued estimates for Fortis’ FY2026 earnings at $2.60 EPS.

FTS has been the subject of several other research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Fortis from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. CIBC raised shares of Fortis from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Tuesday. National Bankshares reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Desjardins upgraded shares of Fortis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.00.

Fortis Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of FTS stock opened at $50.44 on Wednesday. Fortis has a 1 year low of $40.32 and a 1 year high of $51.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.58. The business’s fifty day moving average is $47.88 and its 200-day moving average is $46.37. The stock has a market cap of $25.40 billion, a PE ratio of 20.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.46.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.91 billion. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.24% and a net margin of 14.48%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.67 earnings per share.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortis

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FTS. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its stake in Fortis by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 6,265 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fortis by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,302 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $179,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the period. JCIC Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fortis by 5.7% during the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,377 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $245,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC lifted its position in shares of Fortis by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 9,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $420,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Fortis by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 34,918 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,452,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be given a $0.4448 dividend. This is a positive change from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is 72.84%.

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.