Guardian Partners Inc. Buys New Stake in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

Guardian Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 291,596 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $12,238,000. Fortis accounts for about 1.2% of Guardian Partners Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Guardian Partners Inc. owned about 0.06% of Fortis at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Fortis by 11.9% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 54,149 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,461,000 after purchasing an additional 5,750 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fortis by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,352,485 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $61,516,000 after acquiring an additional 73,682 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in Fortis by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 153,325 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,974,000 after acquiring an additional 15,605 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in Fortis by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,126,939 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $142,172,000 after acquiring an additional 22,411 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Fortis by 36.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 62,495 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,840,000 after purchasing an additional 16,763 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.77% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Fortis in a report on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fortis has a consensus rating of "Hold".

Fortis Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of FTS traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $44.82. The company had a trading volume of 22,454 shares, compared to its average volume of 597,301. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current 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 $46.06. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $43.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.72. The firm has a market cap of $22.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.48.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.09% and a net margin of 14.12%. The company had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Fortis Inc. will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.4324 per share. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Fortis's dividend payout ratio is presently 72.03%.

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.