Equities Analysts Offer Predictions for Fortis Inc.’s Q3 2024 Earnings (NYSE:FTS)

Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) – Equities researchers at Raymond James dropped their Q3 2024 EPS estimates for Fortis in a research note issued on Wednesday, May 1st. Raymond James analyst D. Quezada now forecasts that the utilities provider will earn $0.57 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $0.58. The consensus estimate for Fortis’ current full-year earnings is $2.37 per share. Raymond James also issued estimates for Fortis’ Q1 2025 earnings at $0.68 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $2.42 EPS.

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Fortis from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.13.

Fortis Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:FTS opened at $39.91 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $19.68 billion, a PE ratio of 17.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.95. Fortis has a 12 month low of $36.30 and a 12 month high of $46.28.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 13.66% and a return on equity of 7.07%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS.

Institutional Trading of Fortis

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Simplicity Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Fortis by 5.3% during the third quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 9,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $352,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Fortis by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 651,017 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,732,000 after buying an additional 13,925 shares in the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden boosted its holdings in Fortis by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 149,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,693,000 after buying an additional 17,300 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in Fortis by 23.6% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 109,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,184,000 after buying an additional 20,918 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in Fortis by 2.7% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 7,519,418 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $277,666,000 after acquiring an additional 198,494 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $0.4382 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This is an increase from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.39%. Fortis’s payout ratio is 55.17%.

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.