Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Now Covered by Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS) in a report released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Separately, Raymond James cut shares of Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Fortis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FTS opened at $44.34 on Thursday. Fortis has a 52 week low of $36.86 and a 52 week high of $46.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.63, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.50. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.4382 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.95%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.41%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortis

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fortis by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,352,485 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $61,516,000 after purchasing an additional 73,682 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fortis by 163.8% during the 3rd quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 227,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,347,000 after purchasing an additional 141,400 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in Fortis by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 153,325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,974,000 after buying an additional 15,605 shares during the period. Unigestion Holding SA purchased a new stake in Fortis in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,830,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in Fortis by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,747,036 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $170,230,000 after buying an additional 507,068 shares during the period. 57.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Fortis

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.