Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Acquires 965,833 Shares of Fortis $FTS

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Fortis (NYSE:FTS) by 4,662.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 986,548 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 965,833 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.20% of Fortis worth $51,244,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Fortis in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $291,400,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 60.7% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,508,277 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $127,270,000 after purchasing an additional 947,079 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fortis by 2.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,593,840 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,196,727,000 after purchasing an additional 568,326 shares during the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fortis by 3.7% in the third quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 9,163,354 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $461,748,000 after purchasing an additional 326,212 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Fortis by 63.3% in the second quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 719,010 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,321,000 after purchasing an additional 278,640 shares during the period. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortis Price Performance

FTS stock opened at $55.08 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market cap of $27.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.57, a PEG ratio of 4.59 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $55.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.54. Fortis has a 12-month low of $43.28 and a 12-month high of $58.78.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.54 billion. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.24% and a net margin of 14.24%.During the same period last year, the business posted $0.83 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Fortis will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on FTS shares. Wall Street Zen raised Fortis from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Friday, February 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fortis currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.00.

Fortis Company Profile

Fortis Inc is a Canadian diversified electric and gas utility holding company headquartered in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. Through a portfolio of regulated utility subsidiaries, the company develops, owns and operates electricity and natural gas transmission, distribution and generation assets. Fortis serves customers across multiple jurisdictions in Canada, the United States and the Caribbean, focusing on the delivery of safe, reliable energy to residential, commercial and industrial users.

The company’s core activities include operation and maintenance of transmission and distribution networks, ownership of generation facilities, and investment in grid modernization and system resilience.