Fortis Inc. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.59 (TSE:FTS)

Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, July 30th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 20th will be paid a dividend of 0.59 per share on Sunday, September 1st. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 20th.

Fortis Stock Performance

FTS traded up C$0.32 during trading on Thursday, reaching C$58.04. 42,862 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,590,924. The stock has a market cap of C$28.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.44, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.18. The firm has a 50 day moving average of C$54.39 and a 200 day moving average of C$53.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 128.89. Fortis has a 52 week low of C$49.82 and a 52 week high of C$58.18.

Fortis (TSE:FTS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported C$0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of C$0.89 by C$0.04. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.38% and a net margin of 14.11%. The firm had revenue of C$3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$3.34 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Fortis will post 3.2075145 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Senior Officer James Reid bought 700 shares of Fortis stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 19th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of C$52.37 per share, with a total value of C$36,659.00. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on FTS shares. CIBC increased their price target on Fortis from C$56.00 to C$57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Fortis from C$52.00 to C$53.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Fortis from C$60.00 to C$56.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Fortis from C$58.00 to C$58.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Fortis from C$56.00 to C$59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$57.63.

Fortis Company Profile

Fortis Inc operates as an electric and gas utility company in Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean countries. It generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to approximately 447,000 retail customers in southeastern Arizona; and 103,000 retail customers in Arizona's Mohave and Santa Cruz counties with an aggregate capacity of 3,408 megawatts (MW), including 68 MW of solar capacity and 250 MV of wind capacity.