Wealthquest Corp Acquires Shares of 7,360 Fortis (NYSE:FTS)

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 bought a new position in Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 7,360 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $335,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new position in shares of Fortis in the first quarter worth $28,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fortis by 286.7% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,106 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 820 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fortis by 111.7% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,226 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Fortis by 158,500.0% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,586 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 1,585 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fortis by 100.0% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,828 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 914 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.77% of the company's stock.

Fortis Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of Fortis stock traded up $0.88 during trading on Friday, reaching $49.85. 1,030,841 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 541,241. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The stock's fifty day moving average is $47.80 and its 200 day moving average is $46.25. The firm has a market cap of $25.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.51, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 14.20% and a return on equity of 7.08%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.67 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Fortis will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be issued 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 19th. Fortis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on FTS shares. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Fortis from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Fortis from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. TD Securities began coverage on shares of Fortis in a research report on Friday, June 27th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. CIBC upgraded shares of Fortis from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Fortis from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fortis presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $72.00.

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.