Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Shares Purchased by Cumberland Partners Ltd

Key Points

• Cumberland Partners Ltd increased its stake in Fortis by 18.1% during the first quarter, bringing its total holdings to 32,950 shares valued at approximately $1.5 million.
• Fortis recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.4448 per share, which represents an increase from its previous dividend and indicates a 3.6% dividend yield.
• Wall Street analysts have shown increased optimism for Fortis, with several firms upgrading their ratings, resulting in a current consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.00.

Cumberland Partners Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 18.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,950 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 5,050 shares during the quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd's holdings in Fortis were worth $1,501,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTS. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fortis by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 9,515 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $396,000 after buying an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Fortis by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 91,121 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,786,000 after buying an additional 3,193 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fortis by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 51,210 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,129,000 after buying an additional 1,810 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fortis during the fourth quarter worth about $294,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fortis during the fourth quarter worth about $249,000. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on FTS. CIBC upgraded shares of Fortis from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Desjardins started coverage on shares of Fortis in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. TD Securities started coverage on shares of Fortis in a report on Friday, June 27th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Fortis from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Fortis from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $72.00.

Fortis Trading Up 1.8%

Fortis stock traded up $0.88 during trading on Friday, reaching $49.85. The company had a trading volume of 1,030,841 shares, compared to its average volume of 592,784. Fortis has a 12-month low of $40.32 and a 12-month high of $50.56. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $47.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.51, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.76.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.91 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 7.25%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.67 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Fortis will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. This is a positive change from Fortis's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 19th. Fortis's dividend payout ratio is presently 74.07%.

About Fortis

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.