Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Raises Stake in Fortis (NYSE:FTS)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 2.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 290,816 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 6,618 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. owned 0.06% of Fortis worth $13,255,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fortis by 286.7% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,106 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 820 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fortis by 111.7% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,226 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fortis by 158,500.0% in the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,586 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 1,585 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fortis by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,828 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 914 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fortis by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,302 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $179,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortis Stock Down 1.2%

NYSE:FTS traded down $0.56 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $46.85. 515,806 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 615,348. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.38. Fortis has a fifty-two week low of $39.02 and a fifty-two week high of $50.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The company has a market capitalization of $23.50 billion, a PE ratio of 19.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.48.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.93 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Fortis will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective 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. TD Securities assumed coverage on shares of Fortis in a report on Friday, June 27th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Finally, Desjardins assumed coverage on shares of Fortis in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $72.00.

Fortis 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.