Deutsche Bank AG Buys New Position in Fortis $FTS

Key Points

• Deutsche Bank acquired 1,002,166 Fortis shares during the second quarter, valued at approximately $57.4 million and representing a 0.20% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 57.77% of the utility company.
• Fortis reported quarterly EPS of $0.56, slightly above the $0.55 consensus estimate, while revenue of $1.67 billion fell short of analysts’ $1.83 billion forecast. Analysts’ average rating is “Hold,” with a consensus price target of $66.33.
• Fortis declared a quarterly dividend of $0.64 per share, equivalent to $2.56 annually and a 4.6% yield. The dividend payout ratio is currently 73.68%.

Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,002,166 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $57,354,000. Deutsche Bank AG owned 0.20% of Fortis at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 4.6% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 35,241,451 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,966,121,000 after acquiring an additional 1,557,443 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Fortis by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,129,958 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,254,541,000 after purchasing an additional 536,118 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd lifted its position in Fortis by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 19,898,613 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,034,545,000 after purchasing an additional 1,666,481 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc. lifted its position in Fortis by 3.7% in the third quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 9,163,354 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $461,748,000 after purchasing an additional 326,212 shares during the period. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its stake in Fortis by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 8,564,134 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $445,335,000 after purchasing an additional 677,226 shares in the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on FTS. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Barclays decreased their target price on Fortis from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lowered Fortis from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Wolfe Research set a $50.00 price target on shares of Fortis in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued a "sector perform" rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $66.33.

Fortis Price Performance

NYSE FTS opened at $56.26 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.78 and a beta of 0.43. Fortis has a 1 year low of $48.64 and a 1 year high of $59.40. The business's fifty day moving average is $57.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.56.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.16% and a net margin of 14.17%.During the same period last year, the company posted $0.76 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Fortis will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.64 per share. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. Fortis's dividend payout ratio is currently 73.68%.

About Fortis

Fortis Inc is a Canadian diversified electric and gas utility holding company headquartered in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. Through a portfolio of regulated utility subsidiaries, the company develops, owns and operates electricity and natural gas transmission, distribution and generation assets. Fortis serves customers across multiple jurisdictions in Canada, the United States and the Caribbean, focusing on the delivery of safe, reliable energy to residential, commercial and industrial users.

The company's core activities include operation and maintenance of transmission and distribution networks, ownership of generation facilities, and investment in grid modernization and system resilience.

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