Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Purchases New Shares in Fortis $FTS

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 5,436,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $311,146,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new stake in shares of Fortis in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Fortis in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC bought a new stake in Fortis in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA increased its stake in Fortis by 157.4% in the 3rd quarter. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA now owns 700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Fortis by 123.9% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 739 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fortis Stock Performance

NYSE:FTS opened at $54.94 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.61. Fortis has a 1 year low of $48.64 and a 1 year high of $59.40. The company has a market capitalization of $28.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.24 and a beta of 0.43.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.01. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.16% and a net margin of 14.17%.The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.76 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Fortis will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortis Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be paid a $0.64 dividend. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. Fortis’s payout ratio is currently 73.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FTS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce downgraded Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen cut Fortis from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Fortis from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.33.

Fortis 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.