Fiera Capital Corp Sells 98,467 Shares of Fortis $FTS

Fiera Capital Corp cut its stake in shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS) by 10.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 838,298 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 98,467 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp owned 0.17% of Fortis worth $43,598,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Cidel Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Fortis by 2.8% in the third quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 963,061 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,859,000 after buying an additional 25,809 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in Fortis by 68.8% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 313,659 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,913,000 after acquiring an additional 127,868 shares during the last quarter. Coleford Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in Fortis during the third quarter valued at $10,516,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Fortis by 2.4% during the third quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 813,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,238,000 after acquiring an additional 18,896 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of Fortis by 40.5% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 175,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,150,000 after acquiring an additional 50,632 shares during the period. 57.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered Fortis from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Fortis from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Fortis currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.00.

Fortis Trading Down 1.5%

FTS stock opened at $55.08 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $28.04 billion, a PE ratio of 22.39 and a beta of 0.43. Fortis has a 12 month low of $46.46 and a 12 month high of $58.78. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $56.23 and its 200 day moving average is $54.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.56 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 14.21% and a return on equity of 7.25%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.00 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Fortis will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Company Profile

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.