Raymond James Financial Inc. Acquires New Shares in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 42,122 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,751,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Fortis by 724.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 577 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fortis in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Fortis by 34.1% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,006 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Fortis by 38.5% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,726 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $113,000 after acquiring an additional 758 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Fortis during the third quarter worth about $149,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FTS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Fortis in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Desjardins began coverage on Fortis in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold".

Fortis Stock Up 1.6 %

NYSE FTS traded up $0.78 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $49.82. 471,387 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 624,154. The firm has a market cap of $24.99 billion, a PE ratio of 21.11, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.63. Fortis Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.15 and a 52-week high of $50.06. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.27.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.09% and a net margin of 14.12%. The company had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.72 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Fortis Inc. will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.4324 dividend. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Fortis's payout ratio is 72.03%.

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.