Baskin Financial Services Inc. Buys New Stake in Fortis (NYSE:FTS)

Baskin Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $342,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Fortis by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 533,741 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $22,188,000 after buying an additional 36,587 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its position in Fortis by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 14,544 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $605,000 after acquiring an additional 1,638 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its position in Fortis by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 18,155 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $754,000 after acquiring an additional 3,152 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Fortis by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 73,385 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,051,000 after acquiring an additional 10,913 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Fortis by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,402,045 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $58,230,000 after acquiring an additional 49,560 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.77% of the company's stock.

Fortis Stock Performance

Fortis stock opened at $47.06 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.48. The company's 50-day moving average is $47.91 and its 200 day moving average is $45.25. Fortis has a 1-year low of $38.96 and a 1-year high of $50.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.63.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.01. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.08% and a net margin of 14.20%. The company had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.93 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Fortis will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Fortis from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Desjardins began coverage on Fortis in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Finally, TD Securities began coverage on Fortis in a research report on Friday, June 27th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average 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.

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