DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Sells 383,443 Shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale decreased its stake in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS – Get Rating) by 55.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 305,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 383,443 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned about 0.06% of Fortis worth $14,473,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in Fortis in the third quarter worth $204,000. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fortis in the third quarter valued at $218,000. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 140.8% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 5,432 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $241,000 after acquiring an additional 3,176 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fortis by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 6,974 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the period. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in Fortis by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 7,803 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $346,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. 47.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Shares of NYSE:FTS traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $51.19. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 14,973 shares, compared to its average volume of 549,685. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $47.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.22. Fortis Inc. has a 52 week low of $43.12 and a 52 week high of $51.66. The company has a market capitalization of $24.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.47.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.34 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 13.18% and a return on equity of 6.43%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.53 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Fortis Inc. will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 17th will be issued a $0.4227 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 16th. This represents a $1.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.55%.

Several research analysts have issued reports on FTS shares. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Fortis from C$61.00 to C$60.00 in a research report on Monday, February 14th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Fortis in a research report on Thursday, March 31st. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. CIBC reduced their target price on Fortis from C$61.00 to C$60.00 in a research note on Monday, February 14th. UBS Group lowered shares of Fortis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $61.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 5th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research raised shares of Fortis from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.50.

About Fortis (Get Rating)

Fortis, Inc is a holding company, which engages in energy generation and distribution. It operates through the following business segments: Regulated Utilities and Non-Regulated. The Regulated Utilities segment is composed of ITC, which contains mainly of the electric transmission operations of the ITC regulated operating subsidiaries; UNS Energy that offers vertically integrated utility services; Central Hudson, which provides regulated electric and gas T&D utility services; FortisBC Energy distributes natural gas in British Columbia; FortisAlberta, which involves in the ownership and operation of regulated electricity distribution facilities; FortisBC Electric includes the ownership of hydroelectric generating plants, high voltage transmission lines, and a large network of distribution assets; and Other Electric that contains utilities in the eastern Canada and Caribbean.

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