Davis Rea LTD. Acquires New Position in Fortis (NYSE:FTS)

Davis Rea LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 166,124 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,479,000. Fortis makes up 2.0% of Davis Rea LTD.'s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new position in Fortis during the first quarter worth $28,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in Fortis by 286.7% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,106 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 820 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Fortis by 111.7% in the first 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 during the period. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Fortis by 158,500.0% in the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,586 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 1,585 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Fortis by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,828 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 914 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Securities assumed coverage on shares of Fortis in a research report on Friday, June 27th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Desjardins assumed coverage on shares of Fortis in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. They set a "hold" rating 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 research report on Thursday, May 8th. CIBC upgraded shares of Fortis from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Fortis from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $72.00.

Fortis Trading Down 1.3%

FTS stock traded down $0.65 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $48.42. 264,897 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 597,599. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.76. Fortis has a one year low of $40.32 and a one year high of $50.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.38 billion, a PE ratio of 20.44, a PEG ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $47.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.00.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.93 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Fortis will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

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.