CIBC Asset Management Inc Lowers Holdings in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

CIBC Asset Management Inc decreased its stake in shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,670,184 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 256,774 shares during the quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc owned about 0.74% of Fortis worth $152,373,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Fortis by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 149,151 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $6,194,000 after buying an additional 12,430 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Fortis by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 89,681 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,728,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fortis by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,385 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 698 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortis in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Clear Creek Financial Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortis in the 4th quarter worth $203,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FTS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Fortis in a report on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Raymond James lowered Fortis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fortis presently has a consensus rating of "Hold".

Fortis Stock Performance

Shares of FTS traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $43.77. The stock had a trading volume of 366,255 shares, compared to its average volume of 627,477. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.63. Fortis Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.86 and a 12 month high of $46.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.85 billion, a PE ratio of 18.54, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $42.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.57.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last issued 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 7.19% and a net margin of 14.12%. The company had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Fortis Inc. will post 2.34 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.4324 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.95%. Fortis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.61%.

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.