GQG Partners LLC Sells 6,564 Shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

GQG Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 132,648 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 6,564 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC's holdings in Fortis were worth $5,509,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FTS. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in 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 stake in shares of Fortis in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Fortis by 34.1% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,006 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new stake in shares of Fortis during the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Fortis by 38.5% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,726 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $113,000 after buying an additional 758 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.77% of the company's stock.

Fortis Stock Up 1.1 %

Fortis stock traded up $0.49 on Friday, hitting $45.23. 563,896 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 625,625. Fortis Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.86 and a 1 year high of $46.06. The firm has a market cap of $22.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $43.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.72.

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Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.08 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 7.09%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.72 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Fortis Inc. will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $0.4324 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.82%. Fortis's dividend payout ratio is currently 72.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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 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 presently has a consensus rating of "Hold".

About Fortis

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.