Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Shares Purchased by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Fortis (NYSE:FTS) by 31.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 702,425 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 168,684 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.14% of Fortis worth $32,017,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Fortis by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,722,993 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $902,656,000 after purchasing an additional 364,391 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,266,121 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $509,425,000 after acquiring an additional 173,226 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc. increased its position in shares of Fortis by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 9,148,037 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $379,614,000 after purchasing an additional 329,767 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in Fortis by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 6,218,116 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $258,068,000 after acquiring an additional 612,395 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Fortis by 42.1% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,443,333 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $184,878,000 after purchasing an additional 1,316,394 shares during the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortis Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE FTS opened at $47.02 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $23.68 billion, a PE ratio of 19.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.48. Fortis has a 12 month low of $39.42 and a 12 month high of $50.06. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $47.59 and its 200 day moving average is $45.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.08% and a net margin of 14.20%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.93 EPS. Research analysts predict that Fortis will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FTS. Desjardins began coverage on shares of Fortis in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. TD Securities started coverage on Fortis in a research note on Friday, June 27th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Fortis from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $72.00.

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.