Jones Financial Companies Lllp Increases Stock Position in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 17.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 73,385 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,913 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp's holdings in Fortis were worth $3,051,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Fortis by 724.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 577 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Fortis during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new position in Fortis during the third quarter worth $44,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised 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 worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Fortis during the third quarter worth $149,000. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortis Price Performance

Shares of Fortis stock traded up $1.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $44.72. 886,161 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 566,908. Fortis Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.86 and a 1 year high of $46.06. The company has a market capitalization of $22.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a fifty day moving average of $42.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30.

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Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. Fortis had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 7.09%. The business had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $0.4324 dividend. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Fortis's dividend payout ratio is currently 72.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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