Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) Shares Bought by BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its stake in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 114.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 341,377 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 182,101 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp owned 0.07% of Fortis worth $14,167,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Fortis during the fourth quarter worth $1,751,000. Forsta AP Fonden boosted its holdings in Fortis by 94.8% during the 4th quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 294,600 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $12,235,000 after acquiring an additional 143,400 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its position in Fortis by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 14,544 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $605,000 after acquiring an additional 1,638 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC grew its position in Fortis by 52.3% in the 4th quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 30,560 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,270,000 after acquiring an additional 10,491 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Fortis by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 533,741 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $22,188,000 after purchasing an additional 36,587 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.77% of the company's stock.

Fortis Stock Up 0.8%

Fortis stock traded up $0.39 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $48.75. The stock had a trading volume of 129,922 shares, compared to its average volume of 618,152. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. Fortis Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.15 and a 52-week high of $50.06. The stock has a market cap of $24.45 billion, a PE ratio of 20.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.50. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $47.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.62.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

About Fortis

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.