Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) Shares Acquired by Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. increased its stake in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 485,110 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,279 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Fortis were worth $20,122,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FTS. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its stake in Fortis by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 654,212 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,172,000 after buying an additional 38,393 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fortis by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 31,293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,301,000 after acquiring an additional 5,199 shares during the period. Addison Capital Co lifted its position in Fortis by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Addison Capital Co now owns 40,565 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,686,000 after purchasing an additional 2,263 shares during the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its stake in Fortis by 58.3% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 13,385 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $556,000 after purchasing an additional 4,928 shares during the period. Finally, Gold Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in Fortis by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. now owns 70,817 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,942,000 after purchasing an additional 1,430 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Fortis in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Fortis Stock Performance

FTS stock opened at $45.18 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.71. The company has a market capitalization of $22.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.14, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.48. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.86 and a fifty-two week high of $46.06.

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

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.4324 dividend. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.03%.

About Fortis

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.