Fortis (TSE:FTS) Sets New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as C$63.40 and last traded at C$62.90, with a volume of 3815559 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$63.13.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on FTS. CIBC raised their price objective on Fortis from C$57.00 to C$59.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. National Bankshares raised their price target on Fortis from C$56.00 to C$62.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America set a C$60.00 price objective on shares of Fortis and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group raised shares of Fortis to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded shares of Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$60.33.

Fortis Trading Up 0.3 %

The stock has a 50-day moving average of C$61.27 and a 200 day moving average of C$58.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 128.59. The stock has a market cap of C$31.14 billion, a PE ratio of 19.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.23.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 1st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.28%. This is a positive change from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.12%.

Insider Activity at Fortis

In other news, Senior Officer Keri Linda Glitch bought 450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of C$61.41 per share, for a total transaction of C$27,634.59. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 450 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$27,634.59. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. Also, Director Gary Joseph Smith sold 21,716 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$61.45, for a total transaction of C$1,334,543.75. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Fortis Company Profile

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.