The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday, Aug. 1, edition that TD Securities analyst Linda Ezergailis says Fortis's ($45.46) U.S. expansion strategy has proven to be a "significant value-creator" for shareholders. The Globe's David Leeder writes that Ms. Ezergailis says in a note: "The company's future growth will be largely driven by utility and contracted energy infrastructure investments in North America, and we expect additional projects on top of the base plan to continue to augment FTS's core rate base growth. The company's commitment to grow its dividend at a 6-per-cent CAGR [compound annual growth rate] through 2021 is supported by this capital program, in our view. We continue to view FTS as a core holding as the largest highly regulated investor-owned utility in Canada, and believe that investors will find the company's low-risk, utility-dominated business model attractive." On Friday, Fortis posted second quarter adjusted earnings per share of 61 cents, topping Ms. Ezergailis's projection of 53 cents and the consensus estimate of 56 cents. It was a jump of 15 cents year over year. Ms. Ezergailis rates the shares "buy," but hiked her share target to $51 from $48, $1.92 above the consensus.