Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $48.08 and last traded at $48.02, with a volume of 68339 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $47.39.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Fortis in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Fortis Stock Up 1.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.41, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.46. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $44.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.84.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. Fortis had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 7.09%. The company had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Fortis Inc. will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.4324 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.59%. Fortis’s payout ratio is 72.03%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortis

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fortis by 724.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 577 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fortis in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Fortis by 34.1% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,006 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new position in shares of Fortis during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Fortis by 286.7% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 820 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

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.