CIBC Issues Positive Forecast for Fortis (TSE:FTS) Stock Price

Fortis (TSE:FTS) had its target price boosted by CIBC from C$75.00 to C$76.00 in a report published on Wednesday,BayStreet.CA reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Fortis from C$72.00 to C$79.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$72.00 to C$75.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of Fortis from C$77.00 to C$79.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Fortis from C$72.00 to C$74.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Fortis from C$70.00 to C$72.00 in a research report on Monday, September 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$74.85.

Fortis Stock Performance

Shares of FTS stock opened at C$71.18 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of C$35.97 billion, a PE ratio of 21.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.30. Fortis has a 52-week low of C$57.98 and a 52-week high of C$74.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is C$71.75 and its 200 day moving average price is C$68.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 142.31.

Fortis (TSE:FTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported C$0.87 EPS for the quarter. Fortis had a net margin of 14.53% and a return on equity of 7.48%. The company had revenue of C$2.94 billion during the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Fortis will post 3.3419913 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st were issued a dividend of $0.64 per share. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. This is an increase from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.21%.

Fortis Company Profile

Fortis owns and operates 10 utility transmission and distribution assets in Canada and the United States, serving more than 3.4 million electricity and gas customers. The company has smaller stakes in electricity generation and several Caribbean utilities. ITC operates electric transmission in seven U.S.