Ninety One UK Ltd Takes $2.21 Million Position in Fortis $FTS

Key Points

• Ninety One UK Ltd has purchased a new position in Fortis, acquiring 46,314 shares valued at approximately $2.21 million in the second quarter.
• Fortis recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.4448 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 3.5%.
• Fortis reported earnings of $0.55 per share for the last quarter, which exceeded analysts' expectations, alongside revenue of $2.03 billion.

Ninety One UK Ltd bought a new position in Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 46,314 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,207,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Addenda Capital Inc. grew its holdings in Fortis by 6.7% in the second quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 184,958 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $8,828,000 after purchasing an additional 11,556 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Fortis by 8.5% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 35,449 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,692,000 after buying an additional 2,785 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp acquired a new stake in shares of Fortis in the second quarter worth $65,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fortis by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 87,847 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,193,000 after acquiring an additional 558 shares during the period. Finally, Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Fortis by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 17,564 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $838,000 after acquiring an additional 783 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.77% of the company's stock.

Fortis Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE:FTS opened at $50.42 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $25.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.50. Fortis has a one year low of $40.32 and a one year high of $51.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.58. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $49.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.11.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 business 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.67 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Fortis will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.4448 per share. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. This is a boost from Fortis's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 19th. Fortis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on FTS. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Monday, August 4th. CIBC upgraded Fortis from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. National Bankshares reissued a "sector perform" rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Fortis from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.

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