Fortis $FTS Shares Sold by Baillie Gifford & Co.

Key Points

• Baillie Gifford & Co. cut its Fortis stake by 15.9% in Q4, selling 50,064 shares and leaving 265,404 shares (about $13.8M); institutional and hedge fund ownership is roughly 57.77%.
• Dividend: Fortis declared a quarterly $0.64 payment (annualized $2.56) with an ex-dividend/record date of May 15 and a payment date of June 1, implying a ~4.5% yield.
• Quarterly results: Fortis reported $0.65 EPS versus $0.62 expected (beat) but revenue of $2.13B missed estimates of $2.54B; analysts’ consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $72.

Baillie Gifford & Co. cut its holdings in shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 15.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 265,404 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 50,064 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned about 0.05% of Fortis worth $13,817,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fortis by 2.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,593,840 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,196,727,000 after acquiring an additional 568,326 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Fortis by 0.4% during the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 13,531,955 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $686,518,000 after purchasing an additional 57,447 shares during the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. lifted its position in shares of Fortis by 3.7% during 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 last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its position in shares of Fortis by 0.8% during the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 4,934,402 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $248,925,000 after purchasing an additional 36,910 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Fortis by 0.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,523,869 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $128,061,000 after purchasing an additional 21,631 shares during the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FTS opened at $56.89 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $56.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.26. Fortis has a 52-week low of $45.87 and a 52-week high of $58.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.31, a P/E/G ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.47.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.03. Fortis had a net margin of 14.24% and a return on equity of 7.24%. The firm had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Fortis will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $0.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. Fortis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on FTS. TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Fortis from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday. Scotiabank reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $72.00.

Fortis Company Profile

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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