Desjardins Issues Positive Forecast for Fortis (TSE:FTS) Stock Price

Fortis (TSE:FTS) had its price objective hoisted by Desjardins from C$79.00 to C$81.00 in a report published on Friday morning,BayStreet.CA reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on FTS. National Bank Financial increased their target price on Fortis from C$68.00 to C$72.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on shares of Fortis from C$75.50 to C$78.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$72.00 to C$70.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. TD Securities boosted their target price on shares of Fortis from C$77.00 to C$79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Fortis from C$74.00 to C$77.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fortis has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$75.65.

Fortis Price Performance

FTS opened at C$77.42 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 142.31. The company’s 50-day moving average price is C$71.89 and its 200 day moving average price is C$70.89. Fortis has a fifty-two week low of C$60.94 and a fifty-two week high of C$77.59. The firm has a market cap of C$39.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.35.

Fortis (TSE:FTS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported C$0.90 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$3.08 billion during the quarter. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.48% and a net margin of 14.53%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Fortis will post 3.3419913 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortis Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Sunday, March 1st will be paid a $0.64 dividend. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.21%.

Key Stories Impacting Fortis

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortis this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 earnings beat — Fortis reported C$0.90 EPS and C$3.08B revenue; commentary pointed to strong regulated utility growth and asset expansion. Fortis beats Q4 earnings expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Quarterly dividend declared — C$0.64 per share (annualized yield ~3.3%); ex-dividend date Feb 17, record date Mar 1. Income investors may favor the stock on the payout stability.
• Positive Sentiment: Desjardins raised its target to C$81 and kept a “buy” rating (largest upside among recent raises). BayStreet.CA
• Positive Sentiment: Raymond James raised its target to C$78.50 and kept an “outperform” rating, signaling continued bullish analyst view. BayStreet.CA TickerReport
• Neutral Sentiment: RBC and Scotiabank raised targets to C$80 (both keep “sector perform”) — modest upside but not full upgrades. BayStreet.CA
• Negative Sentiment: BMO lifted its target to C$77 and maintains a “market perform” rating — the target sits slightly below the recent price, implying limited upside/neutral-to-slightly-negative near term. BayStreet.CA

About Fortis

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.