Swiss National Bank Has $94.78 Million Stock Position in Fortis $FTS

Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS) by 27.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,701,282 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 366,500 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.33% of Fortis worth $94,776,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Fortis during the 1st quarter valued at about $311,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in Fortis by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 565,150 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,760,000 after purchasing an additional 90,776 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Fortis by 148.0% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,902 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 1,732 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Fortis by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 33,996 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,623,000 after buying an additional 1,109 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Fortis by 4.4% in the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 10,343 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $494,000 after buying an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on FTS shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Barclays cut their price target on Fortis from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen cut Fortis from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.00.

Fortis Stock Down 0.8%

FTS opened at $58.29 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $56.63 and a 200-day moving average of $55.81. The company has a market capitalization of $29.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.69 and a beta of 0.43. Fortis has a fifty-two week low of $47.65 and a fifty-two week high of $59.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.49.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.56 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 14.21% and a return on equity of 7.25%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Fortis will post 2.59 EPS for the current year.

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.