Baillie Gifford & Co. Grows Stock Position in Fortis (NYSE:FTS)

Key Points

• Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its holdings in Fortis by 17.9% in the first quarter, acquiring an additional 43,408 shares to own approximately $13 million worth of the stock.
• Several institutional investors also enhanced their positions in Fortis, with notable increases such as a 158,500% boost by NBC Securities Inc., indicating significant institutional interest.
• Fortis has received varied ratings from analysts, with an average target price of $72.00 and a mix of ratings, including a recent upgrade to a "strong buy" from Cibc World Markets.

Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 17.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 285,991 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 43,408 shares during the quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned approximately 0.06% of Fortis worth $13,025,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Fortis during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fortis by 286.7% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,106 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 820 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fortis by 111.7% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,226 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Fortis by 158,500.0% during the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,586 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 1,585 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Fortis by 100.0% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,828 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 914 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Securities started coverage on shares of Fortis in a research report on Friday, June 27th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. CIBC raised shares of Fortis from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Fortis from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Fortis from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Fortis from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $72.00.

Fortis Price Performance

Shares of Fortis stock traded up $0.13 on Wednesday, hitting $48.94. 110,058 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 597,164. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.07. Fortis has a 52 week low of $40.32 and a 52 week high of $50.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.76.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Fortis had a net margin of 14.20% and a return on equity of 7.08%. The firm had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. Research analysts expect that Fortis will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.