Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) Stake Cut by Addison Capital Co

Addison Capital Co reduced its holdings in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,302 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,089 shares during the period. Addison Capital Co’s holdings in Fortis were worth $1,740,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of FTS. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Fortis by 123.5% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 666 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fortis during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fortis by 53.6% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 992 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Fortis during the 1st quarter worth about $60,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fortis during the 1st quarter worth about $69,000. 57.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FTS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on Fortis in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They set an “underperform” rating for the company. UBS Group raised Fortis to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Fortis from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 4th.

Fortis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FTS opened at $44.30 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market cap of $21.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.47. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $44.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.37. Fortis Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.86 and a 52 week high of $46.06.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.04% and a net margin of 13.90%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Fortis Inc. will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.615 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.55%. This is a positive change from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.02%.

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.