D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Cuts Position in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 40.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 67,860 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 45,566 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Fortis were worth $2,818,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of FTS. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Fortis during the 4th quarter valued at about $182,242,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Fortis by 77.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,257,486 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $180,686,000 after purchasing an additional 1,853,082 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Fortis by 42.1% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,443,333 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $184,878,000 after purchasing an additional 1,316,394 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Fortis by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,722,993 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $902,656,000 after purchasing an additional 364,391 shares during the period. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. increased its stake in Fortis by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 9,148,037 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $379,614,000 after purchasing an additional 329,767 shares during the period. 57.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fortis Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of FTS stock traded up $0.62 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $48.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 343,692 shares, compared to its average volume of 620,078. Fortis Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.15 and a 52-week high of $50.06. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $46.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market cap of $24.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.47, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.50.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

FTS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Desjardins initiated coverage on Fortis in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Fortis in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Fortis from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, 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.