Fortis (TSE:FTS) Stock Price Passes Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS)’s share price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$72.93 and traded as high as C$78.50. Fortis shares last traded at C$77.61, with a volume of 1,293,030 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on FTS shares. Desjardins increased their price objective on Fortis from C$79.00 to C$81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Fortis from C$74.00 to C$77.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. 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. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Fortis from C$79.00 to C$80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$79.00 to C$80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. One 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fortis presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$77.06.

Fortis Trading Down 0.6%

The business has a 50 day moving average of C$76.31 and a 200-day moving average of C$72.93. The stock has a market cap of C$39.38 billion, a PE ratio of 22.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 145.62.

Fortis (TSE:FTS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 7.51% and a net margin of 14.78%. On average, analysts anticipate that Fortis Inc. will post 3.3419913 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Sunday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Karen J. Gosse sold 8,412 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$78.18, for a total transaction of C$657,650.16. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 52,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$4,083,185.04. This represents a 13.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.