Fortis $FTS Shares Sold by Bank of Nova Scotia

Bank of Nova Scotia lessened its stake in shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS) by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,035,398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 790,484 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Fortis were worth $255,408,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Fortis by 2.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,593,840 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,196,727,000 after purchasing an additional 568,326 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Fortis by 0.4% during the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 13,531,955 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $686,518,000 after purchasing an additional 57,447 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc. raised its stake in Fortis by 3.7% during the third quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 9,163,354 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $461,748,000 after purchasing an additional 326,212 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Fortis by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,224,022 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $296,614,000 after purchasing an additional 345,633 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Fortis in the 2nd quarter valued at about $291,400,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Fortis Stock Performance

Shares of FTS stock opened at $58.16 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $54.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.51. Fortis has a one year low of $43.28 and a one year high of $58.50. The firm has a market cap of $29.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.84, a P/E/G ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.49.

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

Fortis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.64 per share. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FTS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered Fortis from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.00.

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.