XTX Topco Ltd Invests $672,000 in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 16,159 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $672,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fortis by 724.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 577 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 507 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Fortis during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new position in shares of Fortis during the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Fortis by 34.1% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,006 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fortis by 38.5% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,726 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.77% of the company's stock.

Fortis Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of Fortis stock traded down $0.94 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $47.99. 111,898 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 635,512. The company has a market cap of $24.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.46. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $45.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.63. Fortis Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.15 and a 52 week high of $48.94.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 7.09%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Fortis Inc. will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $0.4324 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.60%. Fortis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Fortis in a report on Thursday, February 13th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold".

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.