Public Sector Pension Investment Board Sells 3,307,200 Shares of Fortis $FTS

Key Points

• The Public Sector Pension Investment Board significantly reduced its stake in Fortis by 98.6%, selling over 3.3 million shares in the first quarter, leaving them with a total of 48,248 shares valued at approximately $2.2 million.
• Fortis reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, with an EPS of $0.55, surpassing the consensus estimate of $0.51 and generating revenues of $2.03 billion.
• The company announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.4448, reflecting a boost in its yield to 3.5% from the previous $0.43 dividend.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board cut its holdings in Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 98.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,248 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,307,200 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board's holdings in Fortis were worth $2,197,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FTS. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. purchased a new position in Fortis in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Fortis by 286.7% in the 1st 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 stake 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 acquiring an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,585 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 914 shares in the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Zacks Research cut Fortis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted 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. Finally, CIBC raised Fortis from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $72.00.

Fortis Stock Performance

FTS stock traded down $0.42 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $49.78. 927,055 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 563,957. Fortis has a twelve month low of $40.32 and a twelve month high of $51.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.46.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.24% and a net margin of 14.48%.The company had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.67 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Fortis will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be given a $0.4448 dividend. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. This is an increase 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 (DPR) is 73.25%.

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.