Franklin Resources Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 8.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 265,133 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 25,375 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.05% of Fortis worth $11,710,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its stake in shares of Fortis by 26.9% in the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 9,071,484 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $352,336,000 after buying an additional 1,920,728 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in Fortis by 21.8% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 5,190,336 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $235,839,000 after acquiring an additional 930,331 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Fortis by 31.4% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,142,695 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $83,259,000 after purchasing an additional 512,103 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Fortis by 15.7% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,747,036 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $170,230,000 after purchasing an additional 507,068 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Europe London LLP lifted its position in shares of Fortis by 413.6% during the third quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP now owns 395,474 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $17,973,000 after purchasing an additional 318,474 shares in the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortis Stock Performance

FTS traded up $0.56 on Friday, reaching $41.72. The company had a trading volume of 661,448 shares, compared to its average volume of 705,050. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $43.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.75 billion, a PE ratio of 17.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.49. Fortis Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.86 and a 1 year high of $46.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.01% and a net margin of 14.06%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.63 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Fortis Inc. will post 2.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.4382 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.20%. Fortis's dividend payout ratio is presently 76.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on FTS. Raymond James downgraded shares of Fortis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group raised Fortis to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on Fortis in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They issued an "underperform" rating on the stock.

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.