National Bank Financial Predicts Fortis FY2024 Earnings

Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) – Stock analysts at National Bank Financial lifted their FY2024 earnings estimates for shares of Fortis in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, January 6th. National Bank Financial analyst P. Kenny now expects that the utilities provider will post earnings per share of $2.24 for the year, up from their prior estimate of $2.21. The consensus estimate for Fortis’ current full-year earnings is $2.32 per share. National Bank Financial also issued estimates for Fortis’ FY2025 earnings at $2.35 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $2.46 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $2.61 EPS.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on FTS. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Fortis in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They set an “underperform” rating on the stock. Raymond James downgraded shares of Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th.

Fortis Trading Down 2.9 %

NYSE FTS opened at $40.79 on Thursday. Fortis has a 12 month low of $36.86 and a 12 month high of $46.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The company has a market capitalization of $20.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.50. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $43.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.00.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.26. Fortis had a net margin of 14.06% and a return on equity of 7.01%. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortis

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new position in shares of Fortis in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 34.1% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,006 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 52.2% during the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 630 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Fortis in the third quarter valued at approximately $149,000. Finally, CHICAGO TRUST Co NA acquired a new stake in Fortis in the third quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.4382 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.30%. Fortis’s payout ratio is 76.05%.

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.