Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Acquires 38,393 Shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its stake in shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 654,212 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 38,393 shares during the period. Fortis makes up about 0.6% of Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System owned 0.13% of Fortis worth $27,172,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTS. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings 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. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Fortis by 15.7% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 507,068 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP raised its holdings in Fortis by 413.6% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP now owns 395,474 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $17,973,000 after acquiring an additional 318,474 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in Fortis in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $13,236,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Fortis by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,890,184 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $131,330,000 after acquiring an additional 250,630 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.77% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Fortis Price Performance

Shares of FTS traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $45.00. The company had a trading volume of 477,645 shares, compared to its average volume of 559,189. Fortis Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.86 and a twelve month high of $46.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The company's 50-day moving average is $43.56 and its 200-day moving average is $43.72. The company has a market capitalization of $22.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.48.

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

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued 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 3.84%. Fortis's payout ratio is presently 72.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Fortis in a report on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold".

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.