1832 Asset Management L.P. Sells 356,277 Shares of Fortis $FTS

1832 Asset Management L.P. lowered its stake in Fortis (NYSE:FTS) by 4.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,397,947 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 356,277 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Fortis were worth $400,834,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Fortis by 3.5% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,165,888 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $103,460,000 after purchasing an additional 73,997 shares during the last quarter. Westerkirk Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Fortis during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,224,000. West Family Investments Inc. bought a new stake in Fortis in the 2nd quarter valued at $249,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC grew its holdings in Fortis by 171.7% in the 2nd quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 119,084 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,674,000 after buying an additional 75,259 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Fortis during the 2nd quarter worth $291,400,000. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on FTS shares. National Bankshares reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. CIBC reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Fortis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fortis has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.00.

Fortis Stock Down 0.8%

FTS stock opened at $51.75 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $51.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.52. Fortis has a 12 month low of $40.32 and a 12 month high of $52.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.92 and a beta of 0.50.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.05% and a net margin of 14.18%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Fortis will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th were paid a $0.64 dividend. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. This is a positive change from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.83%.

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.