Versant Capital Management Inc Purchases 5,765 Shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 573.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,771 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 5,765 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc's holdings in Fortis were worth $309,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in 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 last quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Fortis by 48.8% in the fourth quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 59,512 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,471,000 after purchasing an additional 19,512 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in Fortis by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 293,656 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $12,198,000 after purchasing an additional 2,628 shares during the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new position in Fortis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $216,000. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its stake in Fortis by 114.3% in the fourth quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 341,377 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $14,167,000 after purchasing an additional 182,101 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Fortis in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a "hold" rating 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 report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Desjardins began coverage on shares of Fortis in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fortis has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $72.00.

Fortis Stock Performance

FTS stock traded down $0.27 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $48.16. 378,294 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 614,296. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $47.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $44.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.63. Fortis Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.15 and a 52 week high of $50.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.16 billion, a PE ratio of 20.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.50.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 previous year, the firm posted $0.93 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Fortis Inc. will post 2.35 EPS for the current 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.