Swiss National Bank Decreases Holdings in Fortis (NYSE:FTS)

Key Points

• The Swiss National Bank reduced its stake in Fortis by 1.6%, selling 22,300 shares and retaining approximately 1,415,282 shares valued at $64.5 million.
• Fortis announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.4448 per share, representing an annualized yield of 3.5% with a payout ratio of 73.25%.
• The company reported earnings of $0.55 per share for the recent quarter, surpassing analyst expectations, while also achieving a revenue of $2.03 billion, exceeding forecasts.

Swiss National Bank reduced its holdings in shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 1.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,415,282 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 22,300 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.28% of Fortis worth $64,514,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTS. LPL Financial LLC increased its position in Fortis by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 51,210 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,129,000 after buying an additional 1,810 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Fortis by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 45,431 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,887,000 after purchasing an additional 1,577 shares during the period. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Fortis by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 10,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $436,000 after buying an additional 599 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fortis in the fourth quarter worth about $365,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Fortis by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,359,640 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $56,520,000 after buying an additional 61,525 shares during the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FTS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Fortis from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Desjardins upgraded Fortis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. National Bankshares restated a "sector perform" rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Fortis from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $72.00.

Fortis Price Performance

FTS stock traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $50.76. 384,688 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 595,303. The company has a market cap of $25.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.46. The stock's 50 day moving average is $48.15 and its 200 day moving average is $46.69. 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 has a 12-month low of $40.32 and a 12-month high of $51.45.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.24% and a net margin of 14.48%. The business had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.67 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Fortis will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.4448 per share. This is an increase from Fortis's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date 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.