Mackenzie Financial Corp Decreases Position in Fortis (NYSE:FTS)

Key Points

• Mackenzie Financial Corp reduced its stake in Fortis by 1.5%, now owning approximately 6 million shares valued at $274.96 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Several institutional investors, including Norges Bank and Geode Capital Management, increased their holdings in Fortis, contributing to a total of 57.77% ownership by hedge funds and institutions.
• Fortis reported quarterly earnings of $0.70 per share, surpassing estimates, but its revenues of $2.31 billion fell short of the $3.42 billion forecast.

Mackenzie Financial Corp decreased its position in Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 1.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,036,617 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 93,836 shares during the quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned about 1.20% of Fortis worth $274,964,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Fortis in the fourth quarter valued at $182,242,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Fortis by 77.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,257,486 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $180,686,000 after acquiring an additional 1,853,082 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of Fortis by 42.1% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,443,333 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $184,878,000 after acquiring an additional 1,316,394 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in Fortis by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 6,218,116 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $258,068,000 after purchasing an additional 612,395 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Fortis by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 12,870,736 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $586,192,000 after purchasing an additional 604,615 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.77% of the company's stock.

Fortis Price Performance

Fortis stock traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $48.89. 266,284 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 597,054. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $47.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.09. The company has a market cap of $24.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. Fortis has a twelve month low of $40.32 and a twelve 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.01. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.08% and a net margin of 14.20%. The company had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Fortis will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on FTS. Desjardins began coverage on Fortis in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Fortis from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. CIBC raised Fortis from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Fortis from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded Fortis from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Fortis presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $72.00.

Fortis Company 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.