Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Purchases 31,900 Shares of Fortis $FTS

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors increased its Fortis stake by 4.7% to 710,664 shares, valued at approximately $39.6 million. Institutional investors collectively own 57.77% of the utility company.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with five Buy and six Hold ratings; the consensus rating is Hold with a price target of $74.50.
• Fortis exceeded quarterly EPS expectations by reporting $0.56 versus the $0.55 consensus, while revenue fell short at $1.67 billion. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.64, representing a 4.5% annualized yield.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 4.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 710,664 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 31,900 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.14% of Fortis worth $39,649,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Fortis by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,129,958 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,254,541,000 after purchasing an additional 536,118 shares during the period. FIL Ltd lifted its holdings in Fortis by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 19,898,613 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,034,545,000 after buying an additional 1,666,481 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in Fortis by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 9,163,354 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $461,748,000 after buying an additional 326,212 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its position in shares of Fortis by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 8,564,134 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $445,335,000 after buying an additional 677,226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Fortis by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,593,417 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $357,381,000 after buying an additional 372,377 shares during the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FTS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Friday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Monday. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Fortis from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday. TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Fortis from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $74.50.

Fortis Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of Fortis stock opened at $56.52 on Tuesday. Fortis has a 1 year low of $48.64 and a 1 year high of $59.40. The firm has a market cap of $28.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.88 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a 50-day moving average of $57.01 and a 200 day moving average of $56.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.01. Fortis had a net margin of 14.17% and a return on equity of 7.25%. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fortis will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be paid a $0.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Fortis's dividend payout ratio is presently 76.52%.

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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