JPMorgan Chase & Co. Boosts Holdings in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,890,184 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 250,630 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.58% of Fortis worth $131,330,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position 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 buying an additional 1,920,728 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 930,331 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in Fortis by 31.4% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in Fortis by 15.7% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Finally, Point72 Europe London LLP increased its stake in Fortis by 413.6% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP now owns 395,474 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $17,973,000 after purchasing an additional 318,474 shares in the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Fortis Stock Performance

Shares of Fortis stock traded down $0.19 during trading on Thursday, hitting $41.38. 314,843 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 695,657. Fortis Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.86 and a 52-week high of $46.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.39, a PEG ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.88.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion for 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Fortis Inc. will post 2.32 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.4382 dividend. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Fortis's dividend payout ratio is currently 76.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on FTS shares. UBS Group upgraded shares of Fortis to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Fortis in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They set an "underperform" rating on the stock. Finally, Raymond James cut Fortis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th.

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.