Forsta AP Fonden Decreases Stake in Fortis (NYSE:FTS)

Key Points

• Forsta AP Fonden sold 145,200 shares of Fortis, reducing its holdings by 49.3% to 149,400 shares, valued at approximately $6.8 million at the end of the reporting period.
• Fortis recently reported earnings per share of $0.55, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.51, while also announcing an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.4448.
• Several institutional investors, including Deutsche Bank and Vanguard Group, have adjusted their positions, with Vanguard increasing its stake by 2.5% during the first quarter.

Forsta AP Fonden lessened its stake in shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 49.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 149,400 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 145,200 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in Fortis were worth $6,804,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FTS. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 51,210 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,129,000 after purchasing an additional 1,810 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 45,431 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,887,000 after purchasing an additional 1,577 shares in the last quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 10,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $436,000 after purchasing an additional 599 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Fortis in the 4th quarter worth $365,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,359,640 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $56,520,000 after purchasing an additional 61,525 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FTS. National Bankshares reiterated a "sector perform" rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Fortis from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Fortis from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $72.00.

Fortis Stock Performance

Shares of Fortis stock traded up $0.29 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $50.76. 384,688 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 595,303. Fortis has a 12-month low of $40.32 and a 12-month high of $51.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.89, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.47.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.24% and a net margin of 14.48%. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Fortis will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.4448 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. This is a boost from Fortis's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Fortis's payout ratio is 73.25%.

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.