Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) Stake Decreased by Ninepoint Partners LP

Ninepoint Partners LP lessened its holdings in shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,467 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 587 shares during the period. Fortis accounts for about 0.4% of Ninepoint Partners LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Ninepoint Partners LP’s holdings in Fortis were worth $2,805,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fortis by 724.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 577 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortis during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Fortis by 34.1% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,006 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new position in shares of Fortis during the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Fortis by 38.5% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,726 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $113,000 after acquiring an additional 758 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Fortis Trading Up 0.1 %

Fortis stock opened at $44.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market cap of $22.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.48. Fortis Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.86 and a 1 year high of $46.06. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $43.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.68.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 7.09%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.72 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Fortis Inc. will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.4324 per share. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.85%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Fortis’s payout ratio is 72.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Fortis in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

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.