Raymond James Financial Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Fortis (TSE:FTS) Stock

Fortis (TSE:FTS) had its target price increased by equities research analysts at Raymond James Financial from C$75.50 to C$78.50 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Raymond James Financial’s target price points to a potential upside of 1.39% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on FTS. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Fortis from C$79.00 to C$80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday. National Bank Financial increased their target price on Fortis from C$68.00 to C$72.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upped their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$75.00 to C$76.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Fortis from C$79.00 to C$80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Fortis from C$72.00 to C$70.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. One equities research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$75.65.

Fortis Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of TSE:FTS opened at C$77.42 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 142.31. The company has a market capitalization of C$39.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.35. Fortis has a 52-week low of C$60.94 and a 52-week high of C$77.59. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is C$71.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$70.92.

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

Key Fortis News

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

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.