Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Raises Stock Position in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 5.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,352,485 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 73,682 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.27% of Fortis worth $61,516,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 12,151,327 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $472,164,000 after purchasing an additional 270,417 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Fortis by 1.1% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 9,199,047 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $357,291,000 after acquiring an additional 95,813 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in Fortis by 26.9% in the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 9,071,484 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $352,336,000 after purchasing an additional 1,920,728 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in Fortis by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,938,001 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $152,955,000 after purchasing an additional 158,178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Fortis by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,747,036 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $170,230,000 after purchasing an additional 507,068 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.77% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group upgraded Fortis to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Fortis from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 4th. Raymond James lowered shares of Fortis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of Fortis in a report on Friday, September 20th. They issued an "underperform" rating on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce".

Fortis Stock Performance

Fortis stock traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $44.68. The company had a trading volume of 256,379 shares, compared to its average volume of 713,687. The company has a market capitalization of $22.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.78, a P/E/G ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 0.47. Fortis Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.86 and a 12-month high of $46.06. The company's fifty day moving average is $44.36 and its 200-day moving average is $42.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.26. Fortis had a net margin of 14.06% and a return on equity of 7.03%. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Fortis Inc. will post 2.32 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.615 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This is a boost from Fortis's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.51%. Fortis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.47%.

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.