Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Has $1.82 Million Position in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 60.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 15,000 shares during the quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.'s holdings in Fortis were worth $1,818,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Fortis by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 489,343 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $19,006,000 after acquiring an additional 21,059 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Fortis by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,938,001 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $152,955,000 after acquiring an additional 158,178 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp grew its holdings in Fortis by 10.8% in the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 858,512 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $33,380,000 after purchasing an additional 83,858 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in 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 valued at $61,516,000 after acquiring an additional 73,682 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fortis by 163.8% during the 3rd quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 227,700 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $10,347,000 after purchasing an additional 141,400 shares in the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on FTS shares. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Fortis in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued an "underperform" rating for the company. UBS Group raised shares of Fortis to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Raymond James cut Fortis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fortis currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce".

Fortis Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE FTS traded down $0.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $44.48. 618,202 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 716,727. Fortis Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.86 and a 1 year high of $46.06. The business has a 50 day moving average of $44.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.69, a PEG ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.49.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 14.06% and a return on equity of 7.01%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fortis Inc. will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.4382 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.94%. Fortis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.47%.

Fortis 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.