Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Has $13.61 Million Stake in Fortis $FTS

Key Points

• Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio has reduced its stake in Fortis by 2.1% in the second quarter, owning 285,507 shares worth approximately $13.61 million.
• Fortis recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.4448, increasing from its previous dividend of $0.43, leading to an annualized dividend yield of 3.6%.
• The utilities provider reported second-quarter earnings of $0.55 EPS, surpassing analyst expectations and achieving revenue of $2.03 billion against an estimated $1.91 billion.

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lowered its position in shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 2.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 285,507 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 6,025 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned 0.06% of Fortis worth $13,607,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JCIC Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 5.7% in the first 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. Newport Trust Company LLC grew its stake in shares of Fortis by 3.4% in the first quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 9,216 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $420,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New grew its stake in shares of Fortis by 3.6% in the first quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New now owns 9,219 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $420,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in Fortis by 2.1% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 18,965 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $864,000 after buying an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versor Investments LP grew its stake in Fortis by 2.1% during the first quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 19,837 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $904,000 after buying an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.77% of the company's stock.

Fortis Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE FTS opened at $49.64 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.99. The firm has a market cap of $25.00 billion, a PE ratio of 20.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.48. Fortis has a 1 year low of $40.32 and a 1 year high of $51.45. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the business earned $0.67 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Fortis will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th were given a $0.4448 dividend. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 19th. This is an increase from Fortis's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Fortis's payout ratio is 73.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Securities reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Monday, August 4th. Zacks Research cut shares of Fortis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Desjardins raised shares of Fortis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, CIBC raised shares of Fortis from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.

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