Fortis (TSE:FTS) Stock Passes Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Shares of Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$58.44 and traded as high as C$61.21. Fortis shares last traded at C$60.19, with a volume of 3,321,823 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America set a C$60.00 target price on shares of Fortis and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Fortis from C$56.00 to C$63.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Fortis from C$62.00 to C$65.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group raised Fortis to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Fortis from C$59.00 to C$61.00 in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fortis has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$60.33.

Fortis Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 128.59. The company has a market cap of C$29.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a 50 day moving average price of C$61.47 and a 200-day moving average price of C$58.48.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 1st were paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is an increase from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.51%. Fortis’s payout ratio is presently 77.12%.

Insider Activity

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