Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 67,737 Shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

Clearbridge Investments LLC lowered its stake in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,892,968 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 67,737 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned 0.58% of Fortis worth $120,261,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Fortis by 724.3% in 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 purchased a new position in shares of Fortis in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new position in Fortis in the third quarter worth approximately $44,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Fortis by 34.1% during the 4th 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 period. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Fortis by 38.5% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,726 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.77% of the company's stock.

Fortis Stock Performance

Fortis stock traded down $1.09 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $46.24. The stock had a trading volume of 1,403,897 shares, compared to its average volume of 627,934. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick 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. The company has a market capitalization of $23.09 billion, a PE ratio of 19.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.46. The firm's fifty day moving average is $44.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.77.

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Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 14th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. Fortis had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 7.09%. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Fortis Inc. will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.4324 dividend. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Fortis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Fortis 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.