Aviso Financial Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Fortis $FTS

Key Points

• Aviso Financial Inc. increased its stake in Fortis by 12.0% during the first quarter, owning 94,836 shares valued at approximately $4.32 million.
• Fortis reported quarterly earnings of $0.55 per share, exceeding expectations, and generated revenue of $2.03 billion, surpassing analyst estimates.
• The company has announced a dividend increase to $0.4448 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend of $1.78 with a yield of 3.5%.

Aviso Financial Inc. boosted its position in Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 12.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 94,836 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,127 shares during the period. Aviso Financial Inc.'s holdings in Fortis were worth $4,322,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Fortis by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 18,584 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $773,000 after acquiring an additional 1,387 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fortis during the first quarter worth $864,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Fortis during the fourth quarter worth $1,751,000. Two Sigma Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of Fortis during the fourth quarter worth $289,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Fortis by 31.6% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 702,425 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $32,017,000 after acquiring an additional 168,684 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.77% of the company's stock.

Fortis Price Performance

NYSE FTS traded down $0.1280 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $50.6420. 434,560 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 585,039. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.07. Fortis has a 1 year low of $40.32 and a 1 year high of $51.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The company has a market cap of $25.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.46.

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

Fortis Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.4448 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 19th. This is a positive change from Fortis's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Fortis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on FTS. Zacks Research cut shares of Fortis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Fortis from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Desjardins raised shares of Fortis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Fortis from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.