Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Stake Cut by Bank of Nova Scotia

Key Points

• Bank of Nova Scotia reduced its stake in Fortis by 7.4%, owning approximately 6.01 million shares, which represents 0.7% of its total holdings.
• Fortis announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.4448 per share, up from the previous $0.43, reflecting an annualized yield of 3.6%.
• Analysts have revised ratings for Fortis, with CIBC upgrading it to "sector outperform" and TD Securities issuing a "buy" rating, indicating positive market sentiment.

Bank of Nova Scotia reduced its position in shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 7.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,013,304 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 483,555 shares during the period. Fortis accounts for about 0.7% of Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Bank of Nova Scotia owned approximately 1.20% of Fortis worth $273,950,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fortis by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 9,515 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $396,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Fortis by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 6,265 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $260,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fortis by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,302 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $179,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the period. JCIC Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Fortis by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,377 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $245,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the period. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Fortis by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 34,918 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,452,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the period. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FTS has been the topic of several recent research reports. TD Securities initiated coverage on shares of Fortis in a research note on Friday, June 27th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Desjardins assumed coverage on shares of Fortis in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Fortis from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Fortis from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, CIBC raised shares of Fortis from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" 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, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $72.00.

Fortis Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of FTS stock traded up $0.88 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $49.85. 1,030,841 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 592,784. The firm has a market cap of $25.10 billion, a PE ratio of 20.51, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.46. Fortis has a 1 year low of $40.32 and a 1 year high of $50.56. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $47.80 and a 200 day moving average of $46.25.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.91 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 7.25%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.67 EPS. Analysts expect that Fortis will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be given a $0.4448 dividend. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend 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 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.