Fortis (TSE:FTS) Hits New 1-Year High at $59.61

Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day 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 changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$59.57.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on FTS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Fortis from C$52.00 to C$53.00 in a report on Thursday, July 25th. CIBC boosted their price target on Fortis from C$57.00 to C$59.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$56.00 to C$59.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Fortis from C$58.50 to C$59.00 in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, National Bankshares raised their price target on shares of Fortis from C$55.00 to C$56.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$58.17.

Fortis Price Performance

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is C$55.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$54.20. The firm has a market capitalization of C$29.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.14, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 128.89, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

Fortis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 1st will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 20th. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.40%.

Insider Transactions at Fortis

In related news, Senior Officer James Reid bought 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 19th. The shares were bought at an average price of C$52.37 per share, with a total value of C$36,659.00. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Fortis

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.