CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC Takes $249,000 Position in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC bought a new stake in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,942 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $249,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Fortis by 34.1% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,006 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the period. JCIC Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Fortis by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,087 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $211,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Code Waechter LLC raised its holdings in Fortis by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Code Waechter LLC now owns 18,708 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $778,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in Fortis by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 9,515 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $396,000 after buying an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its stake in Fortis by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 89,681 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,728,000 after buying an additional 447 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.77% of the company's stock.

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Fortis Stock Up 3.0 %

Fortis stock traded up $1.34 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $46.59. 630,236 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 637,685. The company's fifty day moving average price is $44.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.77. The company has a market cap of $23.26 billion, a PE ratio of 19.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.46. 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 fifty-two week low of $36.86 and a fifty-two week high of $48.07.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 14th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 7.09%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Fortis Inc. will post 2.35 EPS 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 yield of 3.71%. Fortis's payout ratio is currently 72.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Fortis in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold".

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.