Fortis (TSE:FTS) Stock Crosses Above 200 Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS)’s share price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$73.37 and traded as high as C$79.73. Fortis shares last traded at C$79.31, with a volume of 1,495,845 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on FTS. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce increased their price target on shares of Fortis from C$75.00 to C$76.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Desjardins lifted their price target on shares of Fortis from C$79.00 to C$81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$75.50 to C$78.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. National Bank Financial raised their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$68.00 to C$72.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Fortis from C$72.00 to C$70.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$77.06.

Fortis Trading Down 0.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 145.62, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market capitalization of C$40.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is C$77.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$73.37.

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 business had revenue of C$3.08 billion for the quarter. Fortis had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 7.51%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Fortis Inc. will post 3.3419913 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Sunday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.64 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is 73.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fortis news, insider Karen J. Gosse sold 8,412 shares of Fortis stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$78.18, for a total value of C$657,650.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 52,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$4,083,185.04. The trade was a 13.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.