Fortis $FTS Shares Sold by Hennessy Advisors Inc.

Hennessy Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in Fortis (NYSE:FTS) by 13.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 97,676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 14,700 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Fortis were worth $4,956,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Fortis by 3.4% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,025,514 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,099,399,000 after purchasing an additional 759,772 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Fortis by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 13,474,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $642,076,000 after buying an additional 603,772 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 5.9% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,224,022 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $296,614,000 after buying an additional 345,633 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Fortis in the second quarter valued at $291,400,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Fortis by 18.6% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,414,298 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $262,828,000 after buying an additional 849,606 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Fortis Stock Performance

Fortis stock opened at $51.96 on Friday. Fortis has a fifty-two week low of $40.32 and a fifty-two week high of $52.83. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The company has a market cap of $26.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.88 and a beta of 0.50.

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

Fortis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.9%. Fortis’s payout ratio is currently 75.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. CIBC restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. National Bankshares reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Monday, October 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.00.

About Fortis

Fortis Inc is a Canadian diversified electric and gas utility holding company headquartered in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. Through a portfolio of regulated utility subsidiaries, the company develops, owns and operates electricity and natural gas transmission, distribution and generation assets. Fortis serves customers across multiple jurisdictions in Canada, the United States and the Caribbean, focusing on the delivery of safe, reliable energy to residential, commercial and industrial users.

The company’s core activities include operation and maintenance of transmission and distribution networks, ownership of generation facilities, and investment in grid modernization and system resilience.