Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) Holdings Trimmed by Ninepoint Partners LP

Ninepoint Partners LP trimmed its position in shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 67,467 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 587 shares during the period. Fortis accounts for 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 reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fortis by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 56,604 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,353,000 after buying an additional 2,455 shares during the period. Aviso Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fortis by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 84,709 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,519,000 after buying an additional 3,270 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fortis by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 9,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $396,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of Fortis by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 118,265 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,912,000 after buying an additional 610 shares during the period. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fortis by 38.5% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,726 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $113,000 after buying an additional 758 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Fortis Stock Up 0.1 %

FTS stock opened at $44.92 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. Fortis Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.86 and a 1 year high of $46.06. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.68. The firm has a market cap of $22.43 billion, a PE ratio of 19.03, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.48.

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

Fortis Cuts Dividend

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

Fortis 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.