Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) Stake Lowered by QV Investors Inc.

QV Investors Inc. cut its stake in shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 1.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,055,879 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 18,764 shares during the period. Fortis makes up approximately 4.9% of QV Investors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. QV Investors Inc. owned about 0.21% of Fortis worth $48,090,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Fortis during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,751,000. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of Fortis by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 14,544 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $605,000 after purchasing an additional 1,638 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Fortis by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 533,741 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $22,188,000 after buying an additional 36,587 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in Fortis by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 18,584 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $773,000 after buying an additional 1,387 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Fortis by 135.0% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,542 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $313,000 after acquiring an additional 4,332 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.77% of the company's stock.

Fortis Price Performance

NYSE:FTS traded down $0.31 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $48.42. 491,620 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 613,614. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $47.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.76. The company has a market capitalization of $24.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. Fortis Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.15 and a 12 month high of $50.06.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 7.09%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Fortis Inc. will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Fortis from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Fortis in a report on Thursday, February 13th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Finally, Desjardins began coverage on Fortis in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fortis has an average 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.