Cumberland Partners Ltd Purchases 5,050 Shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS)

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

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Fortis during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Fortis by 286.7% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,106 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 820 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Fortis by 111.7% during the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,226 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. grew its position in Fortis by 158,500.0% during the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,586 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 1,585 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Fortis by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,828 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 914 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FTS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Desjardins raised Fortis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. National Bankshares restated a "sector perform" rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Tuesday. CIBC upgraded shares of Fortis from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. TD Securities reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Fortis from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fortis presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $72.00.

Fortis Trading Down 0.1%

FTS traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $50.40. The stock had a trading volume of 167,806 shares, compared to its average volume of 598,443. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $47.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.46. Fortis has a 1-year low of $40.32 and a 1-year high of $51.45.

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

Fortis Increases Dividend

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

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.