Mufg Securities Canada LTD. Sells 17,064 Shares of Fortis $FTS

Mufg Securities Canada LTD. lessened its position in Fortis (NYSE:FTS) by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 833,338 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 17,064 shares during the period. Fortis comprises 1.2% of Mufg Securities Canada LTD.’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Mufg Securities Canada LTD. owned about 0.16% of Fortis worth $42,264,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd lifted its position in Fortis by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd now owns 13,325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $676,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. West Family Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Fortis by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 5,443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $276,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC raised its stake in shares of Fortis by 2.8% in the third quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 9,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $494,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 3.5% during the third quarter. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 7,895 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Compound Planning Inc. boosted its position in shares of Fortis by 6.6% during the third quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 4,536 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $230,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on FTS shares. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Friday, February 13th. National Bank Financial restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Fortis from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fortis presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.00.

Fortis Stock Up 1.4%

FTS opened at $57.55 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $53.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.68. The company has a market capitalization of $29.20 billion, a PE ratio of 23.58, a PEG ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.50. Fortis has a 1-year low of $43.19 and a 1-year high of $57.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.54 billion. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.24% and a net margin of 14.24%.During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.83 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Fortis will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a $0.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.64%.

Fortis Company Profile

Fortis Inc is a Canadian diversified electric and gas utility holding company headquartered in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. Through a portfolio of regulated utility subsidiaries, the company develops, owns and operates electricity and natural gas transmission, distribution and generation assets. Fortis serves customers across multiple jurisdictions in Canada, the United States and the Caribbean, focusing on the delivery of safe, reliable energy to residential, commercial and industrial users.

The company’s core activities include operation and maintenance of transmission and distribution networks, ownership of generation facilities, and investment in grid modernization and system resilience.