Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) Stake Boosted by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,402,045 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 49,560 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.28% of Fortis worth $58,230,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in FTS. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in shares of Fortis by 21.8% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 5,190,336 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $235,839,000 after buying an additional 930,331 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Fortis by 15.7% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,747,036 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $170,230,000 after buying an additional 507,068 shares during the period. Point72 Europe London LLP lifted its position in Fortis by 413.6% in the third quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP now owns 395,474 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $17,973,000 after purchasing an additional 318,474 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in Fortis in the third quarter worth approximately $13,236,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Fortis by 9.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,890,184 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $131,330,000 after purchasing an additional 250,630 shares during the period. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Fortis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FTS traded up $0.07 during trading on Friday, hitting $44.92. The company had a trading volume of 542,162 shares, compared to its average volume of 563,503. The company has a market cap of $22.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.03, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.48. Fortis Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.86 and a 52 week high of $46.06. The business's 50-day moving average is $43.20 and its 200 day moving average is $43.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.63.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.08 billion. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.09% and a net margin of 14.12%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.4324 per share. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.85%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Fortis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Fortis in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average 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.