Aviva PLC Raises Stock Holdings in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

Aviva PLC increased its stake in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 986,837 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 17,402 shares during the period. Aviva PLC owned approximately 0.20% of Fortis worth $40,923,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Fortis by 724.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 577 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Fortis in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new position in Fortis during the third quarter worth $44,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Fortis by 34.1% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,006 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its position in Fortis by 38.5% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,726 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $113,000 after acquiring an additional 758 shares during the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Fortis in a report on Thursday, February 13th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fortis has an average rating of "Hold".

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Fortis Trading Up 2.4 %

FTS traded up $1.09 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $46.34. 189,028 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 636,750. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $44.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.14 billion, a PE ratio of 19.62, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.46. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.86 and a 52-week high of $48.07.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $2.11 billion during 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side 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. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.4324 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.73%. Fortis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.03%.

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.