GAMMA Investing LLC Takes $864,000 Position in Fortis (NYSE:FTS)

GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Fortis (NYSE:FTS) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 18,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $864,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Fortis by 38.5% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,726 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Fortis by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,302 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $179,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Fortis in the fourth quarter worth $216,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in Fortis during the fourth quarter worth $249,000. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 6,265 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $260,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the period. 57.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortis Trading Down 0.6%

FTS stock opened at $47.39 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $47.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $44.99. Fortis has a one year low of $38.15 and a one year high of $50.06. The stock has a market cap of $23.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.49.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.08% and a net margin of 14.20%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Fortis will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FTS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Fortis from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Desjardins began coverage on shares of Fortis in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.00.

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.