Northern Trust Corp Increases Holdings in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 79.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 347,403 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 153,416 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned about 0.07% of Fortis worth $14,442,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fortis by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 9,515 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $396,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fortis by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,302 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $179,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Fortis by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 89,681 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,728,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake 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. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in Fortis by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 17,887 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $744,000 after acquiring an additional 531 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FTS. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Fortis in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Fortis from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Desjardins began coverage on shares of Fortis in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $72.00.

Fortis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FTS traded up $0.22 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $47.81. 201,379 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 633,241. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. Fortis Inc. has a one year low of $38.15 and a one year high of $50.06. The stock has a market cap of $23.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.26, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.50. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $46.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.46.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.01. Fortis had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 7.09%. The business had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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.