Barclays Lowers Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Price Target to $60.00

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) had its price target decreased by research analysts at Barclays from $61.00 to $60.00 in a report issued on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Barclays‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 5.39% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on FTS. Wall Street Zen downgraded Fortis from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce downgraded shares of Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.00.

Fortis Stock Performance

Shares of FTS opened at $56.93 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.05 and a beta of 0.43. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $57.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.22. Fortis has a 12 month low of $48.64 and a 12 month high of $59.40.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.83 billion. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.25% and a net margin of 14.17%.During the same period last year, the business posted $0.76 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Fortis will post 2.58 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortis

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. JCIC Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Fortis by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,990 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $311,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the period. Addison Capital Co grew its position in Fortis by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Addison Capital Co now owns 32,797 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,830,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Fortis by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 48,548 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,313,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Fortis by 10.9% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,121 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $174,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Fortis by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 37,822 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,969,000 after buying an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. 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.