Fortis $FTS Shares Sold by Bank of Nova Scotia

Bank of Nova Scotia trimmed its holdings in shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS) by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,825,882 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 187,422 shares during the quarter. Fortis comprises approximately 0.6% of Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Fortis were worth $278,089,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH acquired a new position in Fortis during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 157.3% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 766 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp acquired a new position in shares of Fortis in the 2nd quarter valued at about $65,000. MAI Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Fortis by 55.8% in the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 2,067 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $99,000 after buying an additional 740 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaCore Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Fortis during the second quarter worth about $119,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on FTS shares. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Monday, October 6th. National Bankshares restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Zacks Research downgraded Fortis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, CIBC restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.00.

Fortis Stock Up 0.3%

FTS stock opened at $51.11 on Monday. Fortis has a one year low of $40.32 and a one year high of $52.83. The firm has a market cap of $25.83 billion, a PE ratio of 21.29, a PEG ratio of 4.81 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $51.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.66.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). Fortis had a net margin of 14.18% and a return on equity of 7.05%. The company had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.22 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Fortis will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a $0.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.83%.

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.