Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) Shares Sold by USS Investment Management Ltd

USS Investment Management Ltd trimmed its holdings in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 44.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 29,201 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 22,986 shares during the quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Fortis were worth $1,211,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FTS. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in Fortis by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 17,887 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $744,000 after purchasing an additional 531 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Fortis by 52.3% in the fourth quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 30,560 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,270,000 after acquiring an additional 10,491 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Fortis by 724.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 577 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden lifted its position in shares of Fortis by 94.8% during the 4th quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 294,600 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $12,235,000 after purchasing an additional 143,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clear Creek Financial Management LLC acquired a new position in Fortis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Desjardins started coverage on shares of Fortis in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Fortis in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Fortis from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $72.00.

Fortis Price Performance

Fortis stock traded down $0.66 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $47.87. 351,572 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 618,172. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The company has a market capitalization of $24.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.28, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.50. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $47.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.64. 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 released its 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 firm had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.09% and a net margin of 14.12%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Fortis Inc. will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.