Updating your Income-Growth Payer: Fortis

Article Excerpt

FORTIS INC. $55 is a buy. The company (Toronto symbol FTS; Income-Growth Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 482.2 million; Market cap: $26.5 billion; Dividend yield 4.1%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Highest; www.fortisinc.com) is the main supplier of electrical power in Newfoundland and PEI. It also owns electrical and gas utilities across North America. The company raised your quarterly dividend with the December 2022 payment, to $0.565 a share, up 5.6% from $0.535. The new annual rate of $2.26 yields a solid 4.1%. Fortis has now increased its annual payout for 49 consecutive years. In the quarter ended December 31, 2022, revenue rose 22.6%, to $3.17 billion from $2.58 billion a year earlier. That’s due to higher power rates, which offset higher fuel costs and upgrades to its facilities. The company earned $347 million, up 15.7% from $300 million a year earlier. Due to more shares outstanding, per-share earnings gained 14.3%, to $0.72 from $0.63. Fortis plans to spend $22.3 billion on projects and upgrades to existing operations between…