Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 18,470 Shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS)

Key Points

• The Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its holdings in Fortis (NYSE: FTS) by 2.8% in the first quarter, maintaining approximately 0.13% of the company, valued at about $28.95 million.
• Fortis has recently received several upgrades from brokerages, with CIBC raising its rating to "sector outperform" and Royal Bank of Canada increasing the target price from $69.00 to $72.00.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.4448 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $1.78 and a yield of 3.5%.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its position in Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 2.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 635,742 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 18,470 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System owned about 0.13% of Fortis worth $28,952,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. purchased a new position in Fortis in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 820 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Fortis by 111.7% during the 1st 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 last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Fortis by 158,500.0% during the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,586 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 1,585 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 914 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.77% of the company's stock.

Fortis Price Performance

NYSE FTS traded up $0.00 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $50.80. 145,428 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 597,212. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market cap of $25.58 billion, a PE ratio of 20.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.46. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $48.02 and a 200-day moving average of $46.57. Fortis has a one year low of $40.32 and a one year high of $51.45.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 7.24%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.67 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Fortis will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on FTS shares. TD Securities reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Desjardins raised Fortis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. CIBC raised Fortis from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. National Bankshares reissued a "sector perform" rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Fortis from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $72.00.

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.