Fortis (TSE:FTS) Sets New 12-Month High at $59.61

Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as C$59.61 and last traded at C$59.59, with a volume of 66048 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$59.57.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$61.00 to C$62.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Fortis from C$52.00 to C$53.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Fortis from C$60.00 to C$56.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Fortis from C$58.50 to C$59.00 in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Fortis from C$59.00 to C$61.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fortis currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$58.17.

Fortis Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 128.89, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of C$29.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.08, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.18. The company’s 50-day moving average is C$55.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$54.28.

Fortis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.94%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Senior Officer James Reid acquired 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 19th. The stock was acquired at an average price of C$52.37 per share, with a total value of C$36,659.00. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.