Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Fortis (NYSE:FTS)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $58.96 and last traded at $58.8110, with a volume of 85205 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.67.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays cut their price objective on Fortis from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered Fortis from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.00.

Fortis Trading Up 0.2%

The company’s 50-day moving average is $56.59 and its 200 day moving average is $55.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market cap of $30.04 billion, a PE ratio of 23.90 and a beta of 0.43.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.02. Fortis had a net margin of 14.21% and a return on equity of 7.25%. The firm had revenue of $2.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Fortis will post 2.59 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in Fortis by 40.5% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 175,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,150,000 after acquiring an additional 50,632 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its position in shares of Fortis by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 5,138,553 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $266,942,000 after purchasing an additional 204,151 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,129,958 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,254,541,000 after purchasing an additional 536,118 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 4,662.5% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 986,548 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,244,000 after purchasing an additional 965,833 shares during the period. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd grew its position in Fortis by 34.6% during the fourth quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 127,809 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,654,000 after purchasing an additional 32,842 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

About Fortis

Fortis Inc is a Canadian diversified electric and gas utility holding company headquartered in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. Through a portfolio of regulated utility subsidiaries, the company develops, owns and operates electricity and natural gas transmission, distribution and generation assets. Fortis serves customers across multiple jurisdictions in Canada, the United States and the Caribbean, focusing on the delivery of safe, reliable energy to residential, commercial and industrial users.

The company’s core activities include operation and maintenance of transmission and distribution networks, ownership of generation facilities, and investment in grid modernization and system resilience.