LPL Financial LLC Has $2.13 Million Holdings in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

LPL Financial LLC grew its position in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 51,210 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,810 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Fortis were worth $2,129,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Fortis by 34.1% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,006 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the period. JCIC Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Fortis by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,087 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $211,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Code Waechter LLC grew its position in shares of Fortis by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Code Waechter LLC now owns 18,708 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $778,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in Fortis by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 9,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $396,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the period. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its stake in Fortis by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 89,681 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,728,000 after acquiring an additional 447 shares during the period. 57.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Fortis in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Fortis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FTS opened at $47.43 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $44.71 and a 200-day moving average of $43.77. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.86 and a twelve month high of $48.07. The firm has a market cap of $23.79 billion, a PE ratio of 20.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.46.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 14th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. Fortis had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 7.09%. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.72 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Fortis Inc. will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.4324 per share. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is 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.