Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Sells 360,183 Shares of Fortis $FTS

Key Points

• Arrowstreet Capital cut its Fortis stake by 52.7%, selling 360,183 shares during the first quarter and retaining 322,789 shares worth about $18.0 million. Institutional investors collectively own 57.77% of Fortis.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: Fortis has a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $61, with five Buy ratings and six Holds; Wall Street Zen recently downgraded the stock to Sell.
• Fortis reported quarterly EPS of $0.72, beating estimates by $0.02, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.64, equivalent to a 4.5% annualized yield. Shares opened at $57.45, near their 50-day average.

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership decreased its position in shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 52.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 322,789 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 360,183 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned approximately 0.06% of Fortis worth $18,011,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Fortis in the fourth quarter worth about $335,980,000. FIL Ltd lifted its position in Fortis by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 19,898,613 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,034,545,000 after purchasing an additional 1,666,481 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Fortis by 60.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,508,277 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $127,270,000 after purchasing an additional 947,079 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fortis by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 8,564,134 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $445,335,000 after purchasing an additional 677,226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fortis by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,129,958 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,254,541,000 after purchasing an additional 536,118 shares during the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Fortis from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 23rd. TD Securities reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Fortis from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Fortis has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $61.00.

Fortis Stock Down 0.2%

Fortis stock opened at $57.45 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.36 and a beta of 0.43. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $57.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.18. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $48.64 and a fifty-two week high of $59.40.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.56 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 14.21% and a return on equity of 7.25%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fortis will post 2.58 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be paid a $0.64 dividend. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. Fortis's payout ratio is presently 76.83%.

Fortis 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.

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