Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) Shares Sold by Clearbridge Investments LLC

Clearbridge Investments LLC reduced its stake in shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,892,968 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 67,737 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned about 0.58% of Fortis worth $120,261,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Fortis Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE FTS opened at $45.23 on Monday. Fortis Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.86 and a 12-month high of $46.06. The company has a market cap 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. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.71.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last posted its 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.08 billion. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.09% and a net margin of 14.12%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.72 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Fortis Inc. will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The company 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 $0.4324 dividend. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Fortis in a report on Thursday, February 13th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Fortis 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.