Value Partners Investments Inc. Has $5.07 Million Stock Holdings in Fortis (NYSE:FTS)

Value Partners Investments Inc. raised its stake in Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 893.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 111,080 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 99,899 shares during the period. Value Partners Investments Inc.'s holdings in Fortis were worth $5,065,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FTS. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Fortis by 286.7% during 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 period. NBC Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Fortis by 158,500.0% in the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,586 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 1,585 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Fortis by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,828 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 914 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in Fortis by 38.5% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,726 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 758 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in Fortis by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,302 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $179,000 after buying an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FTS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Fortis from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Desjardins initiated coverage on Fortis in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Finally, TD Securities initiated coverage on Fortis in a report on Friday. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Fortis currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $72.00.

Fortis Price Performance

NYSE FTS traded up $0.03 on Friday, reaching $47.16. 586,982 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 612,832. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $47.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The company has a market cap of $23.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.49. Fortis has a 12 month low of $38.50 and a 12 month high of $50.06.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.08% and a net margin of 14.20%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Fortis will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.