Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) Shares Purchased by CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its position in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 584,173 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 19,105 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned 0.12% of Fortis worth $24,217,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Fortis during the fourth quarter valued at $182,242,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fortis by 77.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,257,486 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $180,686,000 after purchasing an additional 1,853,082 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fortis by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,722,993 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $902,656,000 after purchasing an additional 364,391 shares during the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 3.7% during the fourth 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. lifted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 72.8% during the fourth 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.77% of the company's stock.

Fortis Stock Performance

Shares of FTS stock traded down $0.62 on Wednesday, hitting $48.31. The company had a trading volume of 606,745 shares, compared to its average volume of 633,720. The firm has a market cap of $24.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.46. Fortis Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.15 and a twelve month high of $49.20. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $45.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.90. 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 (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 14th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 EPS 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 business had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Fortis Inc. will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $0.4324 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. Fortis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Fortis 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.