Scotia Capital Inc. Purchases 329,767 Shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

Scotia Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,148,037 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 329,767 shares during the period. Fortis makes up 2.0% of Scotia Capital Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Scotia Capital Inc. owned 1.83% of Fortis worth $379,614,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Fortis by 724.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 577 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Fortis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Fortis by 34.1% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,006 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new stake in shares of Fortis during the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fortis by 38.5% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,726 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares during the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Remove Ads

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Fortis in a report 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 given a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fortis presently has an average rating of "Hold".

Fortis Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:FTS traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $47.33. 133,394 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 635,895. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $44.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.06, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.63. 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 posted its earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.09% and a net margin of 14.12%. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Fortis Inc. will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $0.4324 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. Fortis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.03%.

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.