Mufg Securities Canada LTD. Grows Stock Holdings in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

Mufg Securities Canada LTD. raised its stake in shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) by 72.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 759,384 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 319,884 shares during the quarter. Fortis comprises about 1.1% of Mufg Securities Canada LTD.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Mufg Securities Canada LTD.’s holdings in Fortis were worth $31,534,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of FTS. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Fortis by 724.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 577 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fortis in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new stake in shares of Fortis in the third quarter worth $44,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Fortis by 34.1% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted 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 valued at $113,000 after acquiring an additional 758 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Fortis in a report on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fortis has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Fortis Price Performance

Shares of Fortis stock opened at $44.43 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $22.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.63. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $43.72 and its 200 day moving average is $43.71. Fortis Inc. has a one year low of $36.86 and a one year high of $46.06.

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

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.89%. 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.