Franklin Resources Inc. Boosts Stake in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 15.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 305,713 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 40,580 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.06% of Fortis worth $12,687,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Fortis in the 4th quarter worth approximately $182,242,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Fortis by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,722,993 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $902,656,000 after purchasing an additional 364,391 shares during the last quarter. Mufg Securities Canada LTD. boosted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 72.8% in the 4th quarter. Mufg Securities Canada LTD. now owns 759,384 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,534,000 after buying an additional 319,884 shares during the last quarter. Guardian Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in Fortis during the fourth quarter worth about $12,238,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Fortis in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $13,236,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.77% of the company's stock.

Fortis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FTS traded up $0.25 during trading on Monday, hitting $46.78. 70,903 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 636,301. The company has a market cap of $23.47 billion, a PE ratio of 19.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.46. Fortis Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.86 and a 52-week high of $48.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $44.64 and a 200 day moving average of $43.76.

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Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Fortis Inc. will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $0.4324 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.70%. Fortis's payout ratio is currently 72.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Fortis in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus 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.