Alberta Investment Management Corp Reduces Holdings in Fortis (NYSE:FTS)

Key Points

• Alberta Investment Management Corp has reduced its stake in Fortis by 5.7%, holding 1,284,464 shares valued at $58.5 million as of the end of the recent quarter.
• Several institutional investors, including TD Asset Management Inc and Scotia Capital Inc, have increased their holdings in Fortis, with TD Asset Management raising its stake by 4.9% to hold over 12 million shares.
• Research firms have recently upgraded Fortis's stock rating, with Raymond James Financial moving it from "hold" to "moderate buy" and a general average target price now at $72.00.

Alberta Investment Management Corp lessened its stake in shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 5.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,284,464 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 76,952 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp owned about 0.26% of Fortis worth $58,500,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Fortis by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 18,584 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $773,000 after purchasing an additional 1,387 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Fortis in the first quarter valued at $864,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Fortis in the fourth quarter valued at $1,751,000. Two Sigma Investments LP purchased a new stake in Fortis in the fourth quarter valued at $289,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Fortis by 31.6% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 702,425 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $32,017,000 after purchasing an additional 168,684 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.77% of the company's stock.

Fortis Price Performance

Shares of FTS traded up $0.50 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $50.39. 93,168 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 598,447. Fortis has a 1-year low of $40.32 and a 1-year high of $50.56. The stock has a market cap of $25.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.76. The company has a 50 day moving average of $47.80 and a 200-day moving average of $46.28.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. Fortis had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 7.25%. The company had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.67 EPS. Analysts expect that Fortis will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.4448 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. This is a boost from Fortis's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Fortis's dividend payout ratio is currently 74.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FTS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Desjardins initiated coverage on shares of Fortis in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Fortis from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. TD Securities initiated coverage on shares of Fortis in a research note on Friday, June 27th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Fortis from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, CIBC raised shares of Fortis from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fortis presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $72.00.

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.