Fortis (TSE:FTS) Price Target Raised to C$72.00 at National Bankshares

Fortis (TSE:FTS) had its target price hoisted by National Bankshares from C$68.00 to C$72.00 in a report released on Wednesday,BayStreet.CA reports. The firm currently has a sector perform rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial increased their target price on shares of Fortis from C$72.00 to C$75.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Fortis from C$72.00 to C$74.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Fortis from C$72.00 to C$79.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Desjardins raised their price objective on Fortis from C$76.00 to C$79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on Fortis from C$74.00 to C$79.00 in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$74.85.

Fortis Price Performance

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

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

Fortis Increases Dividend

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