Fortis (FTS) Set to Announce Quarterly Earnings on Wednesday

Fortis (TSE:FTS) will issue its quarterly earnings data before the market opens on Wednesday, July 31st. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of C$0.64 per share for the quarter.

Fortis (TSE:FTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported C$0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$0.89 by C$0.04. The firm had revenue of C$3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$3.34 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 14.11% and a return on equity of 7.38%.

Fortis Price Performance

Shares of Fortis stock opened at C$56.88 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of C$28.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.18. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is C$54.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$53.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 128.89. Fortis has a 1-year low of C$49.82 and a 1-year high of C$57.73.

Fortis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Saturday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.15%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.40%.

Insider Activity at Fortis

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 shares were acquired at an average cost of C$52.37 per share, for a total transaction of C$36,659.00. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FTS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. CIBC lifted their price objective on Fortis from C$56.00 to C$57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Fortis from C$62.00 to C$59.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$56.00 to C$59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Fortis from C$60.00 to C$56.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Fortis from C$58.00 to C$58.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fortis currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$57.63.

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.