Truist Financial Corp Sells 3,360 Shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

Truist Financial Corp decreased its holdings in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) by 12.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,853 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,360 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Fortis were worth $950,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings 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 purchased a new stake in Fortis in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Fortis by 34.1% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,006 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new stake in Fortis in the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Fortis in the 3rd quarter worth about $149,000. Institutional investors own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Fortis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FTS opened at $43.83 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $21.89 billion, a PE ratio of 18.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.63. Fortis Inc. has a one year low of $36.86 and a one year high of $46.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 7.09%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Fortis Inc. will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.4324 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.95%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on FTS shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Fortis in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Raymond James lowered shares of Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

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.