Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Cut to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Saturday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Friday. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. National Bank Financial reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Friday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.00.

Fortis Price Performance

NYSE:FTS opened at $56.82 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $28.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.29, a P/E/G ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $52.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.29. Fortis has a one year low of $42.95 and a one year high of $57.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.42.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.03. Fortis had a net margin of 14.24% and a return on equity of 7.24%. The business had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Fortis will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $0.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. Fortis’s payout ratio is currently 74.59%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Fortis by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,129,958 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,254,541,000 after buying an additional 536,118 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 13,531,955 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $686,518,000 after acquiring an additional 57,447 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc. boosted its position in shares of Fortis by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 9,163,354 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $461,748,000 after acquiring an additional 326,212 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its stake in Fortis by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 8,564,134 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $445,335,000 after acquiring an additional 677,226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Fortis by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,593,417 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $357,381,000 after acquiring an additional 372,377 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Fortis Company Profile

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.