Fortis $FTS Stake Cut by Addenda Capital Inc.

Addenda Capital Inc. cut its position in shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS) by 8.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 171,180 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 15,705 shares during the quarter. Addenda Capital Inc.’s holdings in Fortis were worth $8,891,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd increased its stake in shares of Fortis by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd now owns 13,325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $676,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. West Family Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fortis by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 5,443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC increased its stake in shares of Fortis by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 9,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $494,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fortis by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 7,895 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Compound Planning Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fortis by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 4,536 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $230,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on FTS shares. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Fortis from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 22nd. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.00.

Fortis Stock Performance

Shares of FTS opened at $57.35 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $56.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.50, a P/E/G ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 0.47. Fortis has a 52 week low of $43.28 and a 52 week high of $58.78.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.65 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $2.54 billion. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.24% and a net margin of 14.24%.During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.83 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Fortis will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $0.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.05%.

About Fortis

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.