Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Acquires 44,208 Shares of Fortis $FTS

Key Points

• The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Fortis by 1.7%, owning approximately 2.64 million shares valued at $120.5 million as of the end of the first quarter.
• Fortis recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.4448 per share, representing a 3.6% yield, which is an increase from its previous dividend of $0.43.
• Fortis reported $0.55 EPS for the latest quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, and had a revenue of $2.03 billion, exceeding forecasts of $1.91 billion.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 1.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,644,691 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 44,208 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 0.53% of Fortis worth $120,488,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FTS. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Fortis by 52.0% in the 1st quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 4,922,870 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $224,278,000 after buying an additional 1,683,377 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec acquired a new position in shares of Fortis in the 1st quarter valued at $54,838,000. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in shares of Fortis by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 6,218,116 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $258,068,000 after buying an additional 612,395 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Fortis by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 12,870,736 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $586,192,000 after buying an additional 604,615 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Fortis in the 4th quarter valued at $22,869,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.77% of the company's stock.

Fortis Stock Up 0.6%

FTS traded up $0.31 during trading on Thursday, hitting $49.69. The company had a trading volume of 438,094 shares, compared to its average volume of 554,992. The company has a market capitalization of $25.02 billion, a PE ratio of 20.45, a PEG ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 0.48. Fortis has a one year low of $40.32 and a one year high of $51.45. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $49.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.55 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 7.24%. The business had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Fortis will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.4448 per share. This is a boost from Fortis's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. Fortis's payout ratio is presently 73.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Fortis from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Monday, August 4th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Fortis from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average 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.