Intact Investment Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

Intact Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) by 163.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 227,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 141,400 shares during the quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Fortis were worth $10,347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in FTS. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Fortis by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 136,721 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,134,000 after purchasing an additional 9,300 shares during the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in Fortis by 58.3% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 8,457 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $384,000 after acquiring an additional 3,115 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its position in Fortis by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 12,906 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $586,000 after acquiring an additional 1,532 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its stake in Fortis by 13.1% during the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 7,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 910 shares during the period. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden lifted its position in shares of Fortis by 15.2% during the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 151,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,878,000 after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares in the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Fortis from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 4th. UBS Group upgraded Fortis to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of Fortis in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued an “underperform” rating for the company.

Fortis Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE FTS opened at $42.79 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $44.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.84. Fortis Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.86 and a 12 month high of $46.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The company has a market capitalization of $21.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.47.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.615 dividend. This is an increase from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Fortis’s payout ratio is presently 72.46%.

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.