7,360 Shares in Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Acquired by Wealthquest Corp

Key Points

• Wealthquest Corp has acquired a new stake in Fortis (NYSE:FTS), purchasing 7,360 shares valued at approximately $335,000 in the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors have increased their holdings in Fortis, with TD Asset Management Inc's ownership rising by 4.9% in the first quarter.
• Wall Street analysts have a consensus rating of "Hold" on Fortis, with price targets recently increased, indicating potential growth for the stock.

Wealthquest Corp purchased a new stake in Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 7,360 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $335,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FTS. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in Fortis by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 9,515 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $396,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Fortis by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 91,121 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,786,000 after buying an additional 3,193 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Fortis by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 51,210 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,129,000 after buying an additional 1,810 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in Fortis by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 240,725 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,998,000 after buying an additional 36,037 shares during the period. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Fortis during the 4th quarter worth $294,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.77% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FTS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Fortis from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Desjardins began coverage on shares of Fortis in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Fortis from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. CIBC raised shares of Fortis from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised shares of Fortis from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $72.00.

Fortis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FTS traded up $0.50 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $50.39. The company's stock had a trading volume of 93,168 shares, compared to its average volume of 598,447. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.76. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $47.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.28. The firm has a market cap of $25.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.46. Fortis has a 1-year low of $40.32 and a 1-year high of $50.56.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. Fortis had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 7.25%. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.67 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Fortis will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.4448 per share. This is a positive change from Fortis's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Fortis's payout ratio is presently 74.07%.

Fortis 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.