Bank of Nova Scotia Has $278.09 Million Stock Position in Fortis $FTS

Bank of Nova Scotia reduced its stake in Fortis (NYSE:FTS) by 3.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,825,882 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 187,422 shares during the quarter. Fortis makes up 0.6% of Bank of Nova Scotia’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Bank of Nova Scotia owned 1.16% of Fortis worth $278,089,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FTS. West Family Investments Inc. bought a new position in shares of Fortis in the second quarter worth approximately $249,000. Aviso Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Fortis by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 101,518 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,846,000 after acquiring an additional 6,682 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 42.4% during the 2nd quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 794,320 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,955,000 after acquiring an additional 236,347 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd boosted its holdings in Fortis by 172.5% in the second quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 32,997 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,575,000 after purchasing an additional 20,889 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Fortis by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,224,022 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $296,614,000 after buying an additional 345,633 shares during the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Fortis Price Performance

NYSE:FTS opened at $51.11 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.29, a PEG ratio of 4.81 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.59. Fortis has a 1 year low of $40.32 and a 1 year high of $52.83.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.05% and a net margin of 14.18%. Equities analysts forecast that Fortis will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a $0.64 dividend. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Fortis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. CIBC restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Monday, October 6th. National Bankshares reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.