Canoe Financial LP Has $8.19 Million Holdings in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

Canoe Financial LP raised its position in shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 218.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 199,031 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 136,495 shares during the quarter. Canoe Financial LP's holdings in Fortis were worth $8,186,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rational Advisors LLC bought a new position in Fortis during the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Fortis during the 3rd quarter worth $96,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fortis by 111.2% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,598 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $107,000 after acquiring an additional 1,368 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fortis by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 5,228 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $215,000 after acquiring an additional 449 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Fortis during the 4th quarter worth $220,000. 57.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Fortis Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of Fortis stock traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $41.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 559,206 shares, compared to its average volume of 733,281. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.72, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Fortis Inc. has a 1-year low of $36.30 and a 1-year high of $46.05.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.39 billion. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.02% and a net margin of 13.66%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Fortis Inc. will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a $0.4382 dividend. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.26%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This is a boost from Fortis's previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Fortis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Fortis from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $55.13.

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.