Geode Capital Management LLC Has $111.77 Million Stock Holdings in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,404,404 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 223,733 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 0.48% of Fortis worth $111,771,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Fortis Trading Up 0.3 %

FTS stock traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $41.16. The company's stock had a trading volume of 304,598 shares, compared to its average volume of 705,229. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $43.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.76. The stock has a market cap of $20.47 billion, a PE ratio of 17.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.49. Fortis Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.86 and a 52 week 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.26. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.01% and a net margin of 14.06%. The business had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Fortis Inc. will post 2.32 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.4382 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.26%. Fortis's payout ratio is 76.05%.

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.