Renaissance Technologies LLC Lowers Position in Fortis $FTS

Key Points

• Renaissance Technologies cut its Fortis position by 23% in the first quarter, selling 151,500 shares and retaining 507,452 shares valued at approximately $28.3 million.
• Fortis shares opened at $58.41, near their 52-week high of $59.40. The utility reported quarterly EPS of $0.72, exceeding estimates, although revenue of $2.45 billion fell short of expectations.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, with a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $61.00; five analysts rate the stock Buy and six rate it Hold.

Renaissance Technologies LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 23.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 507,452 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 151,500 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned about 0.10% of Fortis worth $28,311,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Fortis in the 4th quarter valued at about $335,980,000. FIL Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Fortis by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 19,898,613 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,034,545,000 after purchasing an additional 1,666,481 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Fortis by 60.7% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,508,277 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $127,270,000 after purchasing an additional 947,079 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fortis by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 8,564,134 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $445,335,000 after purchasing an additional 677,226 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Fortis by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,129,958 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,254,541,000 after buying an additional 536,118 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.77% of the company's stock.

Fortis Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of Fortis stock opened at $58.41 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company has a market cap of $29.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.74 and a beta of 0.43. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $56.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.10. Fortis has a 52-week low of $48.35 and a 52-week high of $59.40.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.56 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 14.21% and a return on equity of 7.25%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Fortis will post 2.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on FTS shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce cut Fortis from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Fortis from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. TD Securities reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $61.00.

Fortis Company Profile

Fortis Inc is a Canadian diversified electric and gas utility holding company headquartered in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. Through a portfolio of regulated utility subsidiaries, the company develops, owns and operates electricity and natural gas transmission, distribution and generation assets. Fortis serves customers across multiple jurisdictions in Canada, the United States and the Caribbean, focusing on the delivery of safe, reliable energy to residential, commercial and industrial users.

The company's core activities include operation and maintenance of transmission and distribution networks, ownership of generation facilities, and investment in grid modernization and system resilience.

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