Louisbourg Investments Inc. Trims Stock Position in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

Louisbourg Investments Inc. trimmed its stake in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) by 16.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 85,597 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 17,086 shares during the period. Louisbourg Investments Inc.’s holdings in Fortis were worth $3,555,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Fortis by 724.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 577 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Fortis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new position in Fortis during the third quarter worth approximately $44,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Fortis by 34.1% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,006 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 52.2% in the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 630 shares during the period. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortis Stock Performance

Shares of FTS stock opened at $43.89 on Wednesday. Fortis Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.86 and a 52-week high of $46.06. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $42.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.91 billion, a PE ratio of 18.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.50.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.4382 per share. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.99%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Raymond James downgraded shares of Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th.

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.