Fortis (TSE:FTS) Sets New 1-Year High After Dividend Announcement

Shares of Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as C$64.11 and last traded at C$64.00, with a volume of 213515 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$62.89.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $0.615 dividend. This represents a $2.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.84%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on FTS shares. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Fortis from C$63.00 to C$66.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group set a C$67.00 price target on shares of Fortis and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Raymond James lowered shares of Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, CIBC lifted their price target on shares of Fortis from C$63.00 to C$64.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$61.80.

Fortis Stock Up 1.8 %

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is C$60.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$60.51. The company has a market cap of C$31.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 142.31, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.74.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortis

In related news, Senior Officer Jocelyn Perry sold 11,809 shares of Fortis stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$63.19, for a total value of C$746,178.83. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

About Fortis

Fortis owns and operates 10 utility transmission and distribution assets in Canada and the United States, serving more than 3.4 million electricity and gas customers. The company has smaller stakes in electricity generation and several Caribbean utilities. ITC operates electric transmission in seven U.S.