Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Sunday.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on FTS. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Friday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Friday, February 13th. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.00.

Fortis Stock Performance

FTS stock opened at $55.09 on Friday. Fortis has a 1-year low of $43.28 and a 1-year high of $58.78. The company has a market capitalization of $27.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.58, a PEG ratio of 4.59 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $55.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.44.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.54 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 14.24% and a return on equity of 7.24%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.83 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Fortis will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Fortis

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Purpose Unlimited Inc. acquired a new stake in Fortis in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,348,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 85.4% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,197 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012 shares during the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Fortis by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 49,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,562,000 after purchasing an additional 3,019 shares in the last quarter. Compound Planning Inc. grew its position in shares of Fortis by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 5,247 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 711 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Fortis by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,314,274 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $68,263,000 after purchasing an additional 20,313 shares during 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.