DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Sells 47,633 Shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale cut its stake in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 11.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 377,359 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 47,633 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned approximately 0.08% of Fortis worth $17,319,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Fortis by 29.2% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,527 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $186,000 after acquiring an additional 1,023 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fortis by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,147,377 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $45,363,000 after purchasing an additional 3,561 shares in the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its stake in shares of Fortis by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 590,047 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $21,919,000 after purchasing an additional 4,160 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Fortis by 4.7% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 115,186 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,553,000 after purchasing an additional 5,160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in Fortis during the first quarter worth $725,000. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fortis Stock Performance

Shares of Fortis stock traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $43.23. The company had a trading volume of 366,684 shares, compared to its average volume of 698,111. The stock has a market cap of $21.41 billion, a PE ratio of 18.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.47. Fortis Inc. has a 1-year low of $36.86 and a 1-year high of $46.06. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $44.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.58.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.02. Fortis had a net margin of 13.90% and a return on equity of 7.04%. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Fortis Inc. will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.615 dividend. This is a boost from Fortis's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.69%. Fortis's dividend payout ratio is 78.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on FTS. UBS Group upgraded Fortis to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Fortis from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, August 4th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of Fortis in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued an "underperform" rating for the company.

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.