FORTIS INC. $28 (Toronto symbol FTS; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 170.7 million; Market cap: $4.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; Dividend yield: 4.0%; SI Rating: Above Average) is the main supplier of electrical power in Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island. It also operates power plants in other parts of Canada, as well as the U.S., Belize and the Cayman Islands. As well, Fortis operates hotels and other businesses in Atlantic Canada.
The company has been working to lower its reliance on Atlantic Canada. Much of its growth has come from the assets it bought as part of this plan.
In May 2004, Fortis bought regulated electrical utilities in Alberta and B.C. for $1.5 billion in cash and stock. In May 2007, it paid $3.7 billion for the regulated gas-distribution business of Terasen Inc. (formerly called BC Gas), which has 939,600 customers in B.C. Fortis issued $1.15 billion of new common shares to help pay for this purchase.
The new operations helped Fortis earn a record $262 million in 2009, up 6.9% from $245 million in 2008. Earnings per share fell 0.7%, to $1.51 from $1.52, on 12.8% more shares outstanding. Revenue fell 6.8%, to $3.6 billion from $3.9 billion, mainly because it sold less natural gas at lower prices.
Fortis’s 2010 earnings will probably rise to $1.67 a share. The stock trades at 16.8 times that figure.
Fortis is a buy.
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