Renaissance Technologies LLC Sells 89,100 Shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

Renaissance Technologies LLC lowered its stake in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,358,652 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 89,100 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned approximately 0.27% of Fortis worth $56,479,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTS. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Fortis during the 4th quarter worth about $182,242,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Fortis by 77.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,257,486 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $180,686,000 after acquiring an additional 1,853,082 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Fortis by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,722,993 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $902,656,000 after acquiring an additional 364,391 shares during the last quarter. Mufg Securities Canada LTD. increased its holdings in shares of Fortis by 72.8% in the fourth quarter. Mufg Securities Canada LTD. now owns 759,384 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,534,000 after acquiring an additional 319,884 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guardian Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Fortis in the 4th quarter valued at about $12,238,000. Institutional investors own 57.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Fortis in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold".

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Fortis Trading Down 0.3 %

FTS traded down $0.13 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $47.32. 120,370 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 635,859. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.74 billion, a PE ratio of 20.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.46. The stock's 50-day moving average is $44.71 and its 200 day moving average is $43.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. Fortis Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.86 and a 12 month high of $48.12.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.72 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Fortis Inc. will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Fortis's payout ratio is currently 72.03%.

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.