Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Fortis $FTS

Key Points

• Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC reduced its position in Fortis by 1.9%, now holding 834,165 shares valued at approximately $38 million.
• Fortis has announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.4448 per share, reflecting an annual yield of 3.5% and a payout ratio of 73.25%.
• The stock has received varying ratings from analysts, with one strong buy and several upgrades, leading to an average target price of $72.00.

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 1.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 834,165 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 15,788 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.17% of Fortis worth $38,021,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Fortis in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased 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 raised its stake in shares of Fortis by 111.7% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,226 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 647 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. raised its stake in Fortis by 158,500.0% in the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,586 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 1,585 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fortis by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,828 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 914 shares in the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Monday, August 4th. National Bankshares restated a "sector perform" rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Fortis from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, TD Securities restated a "buy" rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $72.00.

Fortis Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE FTS traded up $0.20 during trading on Friday, hitting $49.78. 380,260 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 596,544. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $48.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.24. Fortis has a 12-month low of $40.32 and a 12-month high of $51.45. The firm has a market cap of $25.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.49, a PEG ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.47.

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 analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.67 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Fortis will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be issued 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 presently 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.