Fortis (TSE:FTS) Price Target Raised to C$80.00

Fortis (TSE:FTS) had its price objective boosted by Royal Bank Of Canada from C$79.00 to C$80.00 in a report released on Friday morning,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has a sector perform rating on the stock.

FTS has been the topic of several other research reports. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised their target price on shares of Fortis from C$75.00 to C$76.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Desjardins increased their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$76.00 to C$79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$74.00 to C$77.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Fortis from C$72.00 to C$70.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, TD Securities increased their target price on Fortis from C$77.00 to C$79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fortis currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$75.65.

Fortis Trading Up 1.4%

TSE:FTS opened at C$77.42 on Friday. Fortis has a 12-month low of C$60.94 and a 12-month high of C$77.59. The firm has a market cap of C$39.28 billion, a PE ratio of 22.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 142.31. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of C$71.89 and a 200 day moving average price of C$70.94.

Fortis (TSE:FTS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported C$0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$3.08 billion for the quarter. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.48% and a net margin of 14.53%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Fortis will post 3.3419913 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Sunday, March 1st will be issued a $0.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.09%.

Key Stories Impacting Fortis

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortis this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 earnings beat — Fortis reported C$0.90 EPS and C$3.08B revenue; commentary pointed to strong regulated utility growth and asset expansion. Fortis beats Q4 earnings expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Quarterly dividend declared — C$0.64 per share (annualized yield ~3.3%); ex-dividend date Feb 17, record date Mar 1. Income investors may favor the stock on the payout stability.
• Positive Sentiment: Desjardins raised its target to C$81 and kept a “buy” rating (largest upside among recent raises). BayStreet.CA
• Positive Sentiment: Raymond James raised its target to C$78.50 and kept an “outperform” rating, signaling continued bullish analyst view. BayStreet.CA TickerReport
• Neutral Sentiment: RBC and Scotiabank raised targets to C$80 (both keep “sector perform”) — modest upside but not full upgrades. BayStreet.CA
• Negative Sentiment: BMO lifted its target to C$77 and maintains a “market perform” rating — the target sits slightly below the recent price, implying limited upside/neutral-to-slightly-negative near term. BayStreet.CA

About Fortis

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.