Natixis Purchases 7,822 Shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

Natixis raised its position in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 153.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,930 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,822 shares during the period. Natixis' holdings in Fortis were worth $538,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of FTS. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Fortis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $182,242,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fortis by 77.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,257,486 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $180,686,000 after acquiring an additional 1,853,082 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Fortis by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,722,993 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $902,656,000 after acquiring an additional 364,391 shares in the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. boosted its stake in Fortis by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 9,148,037 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $379,614,000 after purchasing an additional 329,767 shares during the period. Finally, Mufg Securities Canada LTD. increased its holdings in Fortis by 72.8% during the 4th quarter. Mufg Securities Canada LTD. now owns 759,384 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,534,000 after purchasing an additional 319,884 shares in the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortis Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE FTS traded up $0.67 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $49.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 552,971 shares, compared to its average volume of 626,823. Fortis Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.15 and a fifty-two week high of $49.65. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.97, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. Fortis had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 7.09%. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.72 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Fortis Inc. will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.4324 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.49%. Fortis's payout ratio is presently 72.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Fortis in a report on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fortis presently has a consensus rating of "Hold".

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.