Intact Investment Management Inc. Acquires 141,400 Shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

Intact Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 163.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 227,700 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 141,400 shares during the quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Fortis were worth $10,347,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in shares of Fortis by 26.9% during the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 9,071,484 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $352,336,000 after acquiring an additional 1,920,728 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Fortis by 31.4% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,142,695 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $83,259,000 after buying an additional 512,103 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Fortis by 2.3% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 12,151,327 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $472,164,000 after purchasing an additional 270,417 shares during the last quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Fortis by 42.6% in the 2nd quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 782,827 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $30,418,000 after acquiring an additional 233,743 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Fortis by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,072,102 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $793,049,000 after purchasing an additional 229,972 shares during the period. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Fortis Stock Performance

FTS stock traded down $0.22 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $42.57. The company had a trading volume of 856,182 shares, compared to its average volume of 698,312. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.17 billion, a PE ratio of 18.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.47. Fortis Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.86 and a fifty-two week high of $46.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $44.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.84.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.615 per share. 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 5.78%. Fortis's payout ratio is presently 72.46%.

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.