Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,722,993 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 364,391 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 4.35% of Fortis worth $902,656,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FTS. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Fortis by 724.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 577 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Fortis in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Fortis by 34.1% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,006 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new position in Fortis during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Fortis by 38.5% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,726 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 758 shares in the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Fortis in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Fortis Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE FTS opened at $45.23 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.48. Fortis Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.86 and a 52 week high of $46.06. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $43.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 7.09%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Fortis Inc. will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.4324 per share. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Fortis’s payout ratio is currently 72.03%.

Fortis Company Profile

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.