Bank of America Corp DE Sells 312,424 Shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

Bank of America Corp DE reduced its position in shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 10.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,703,744 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 312,424 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 0.54% of Fortis worth $112,395,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Fortis by 724.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 577 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 507 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Fortis during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in Fortis by 38.5% in the fourth 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. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in Fortis by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,302 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $179,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Creek Financial Management LLC acquired a new stake in Fortis in the fourth quarter worth $203,000. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Fortis in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Desjardins began coverage on Fortis in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Fortis from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fortis presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $72.00.

Fortis Stock Down 0.2%

FTS stock traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $46.46. 583,663 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 622,766. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $46.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.35. The firm has a market cap of $23.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.50. 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 1-year low of $38.15 and a 1-year high of $50.06.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.42 billion. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.09% and a net margin of 14.12%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.93 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Fortis Inc. will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.4324 per share. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Fortis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.73%.

Fortis Company 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.