Guardian Partners Inc. Takes $12.24 Million Position in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

Guardian Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 291,596 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $12,238,000. Fortis makes up 1.2% of Guardian Partners Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Fortis by 34.1% in 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 in the last quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Fortis by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,087 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $211,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the period. Code Waechter LLC lifted its position in Fortis by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Code Waechter LLC now owns 18,708 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $778,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in Fortis by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 9,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $396,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the period. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its position in Fortis by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 89,681 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,728,000 after buying an additional 447 shares during the period. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Fortis in a research report 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 assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fortis currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Fortis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FTS opened at $45.00 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.47 billion, a PE ratio of 19.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The business has a 50-day moving average of $43.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.72. Fortis Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.86 and a 12 month high of $46.06.

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

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.4324 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.84%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.03%.

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.