The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Purchases 22,411 Shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 0.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,126,939 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 22,411 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.63% of Fortis worth $142,172,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in Fortis by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 153,325 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,974,000 after acquiring an additional 15,605 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fortis by 5.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,352,485 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $61,516,000 after purchasing an additional 73,682 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Fortis by 15.7% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,747,036 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $170,230,000 after purchasing an additional 507,068 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Fortis by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,490,882 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $67,848,000 after buying an additional 11,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Fortis by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 54,149 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,461,000 after buying an additional 5,750 shares during the period. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FTS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group raised shares of Fortis to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Fortis in a report on Friday, September 20th. They issued an "underperform" rating for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Fortis from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 4th. Finally, Raymond James lowered Fortis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Three equities 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Reduce".

Fortis Price Performance

Fortis stock traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $44.83. 398,821 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 715,675. The stock has a market cap of $22.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.69. Fortis Inc. has a one year low of $36.86 and a one year high of $46.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $44.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.41.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.26. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.03% and a net margin of 14.06%. The company had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.01 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Fortis Inc. will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.615 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This is an increase from Fortis's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.49%. Fortis's payout ratio is currently 76.05%.

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.