Fortis (TSE:FTS) Shares Cross Above 200 Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Shares of Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS) crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of C$69.41 and traded as high as C$71.08. Fortis shares last traded at C$71.05, with a volume of 684,257 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on FTS. Desjardins upped 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. Scotiabank upped their price target on Fortis from C$74.00 to C$79.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on Fortis from C$72.00 to C$75.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. TD Securities boosted their price objective on Fortis from C$77.00 to C$79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$72.00 to C$79.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$74.85.

Fortis Stock Up 0.9%

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of C$71.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$69.41. The firm has a market cap of C$35.91 billion, a PE ratio of 21.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 142.31.

Fortis (TSE:FTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported C$0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm 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, sell-side analysts expect that Fortis Inc. will post 3.3419913 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st were issued a $0.64 dividend. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. This is a positive change from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. 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. states, with more than 16,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines in operation serving a peak load in excess of 23 gigawatts.