Fortis $FTS Position Increased by TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its position in Fortis (NYSE:FTS) by 0.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,504,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 68,504 shares during the period. Fortis comprises about 1.3% of TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. owned 1.84% of Fortis worth $502,562,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FTS. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fortis by 78.4% in the 3rd quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the period. Addison Capital Co grew its holdings in Fortis by 0.9% during the first quarter. Addison Capital Co now owns 32,797 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,830,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Fortis by 10.9% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,121 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $174,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. Syon Capital LLC increased its position in Fortis by 3.8% during the second quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 8,714 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $499,000 after buying an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG increased its position in Fortis by 4.8% during the first quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 7,110 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortis Stock Performance

Shares of Fortis stock traded up $1.09 on Friday, hitting $55.76. The stock had a trading volume of 812,386 shares, compared to its average volume of 901,461. Fortis has a twelve month low of $49.60 and a twelve month high of $59.40. The business’s 50 day moving average is $54.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market cap of $28.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.57 and a beta of 0.42.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.16% and a net margin of 14.17%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.76 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Fortis will post 2.58 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were issued a C$0.64 dividend. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 19th. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FTS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Fortis from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce downgraded Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Thursday. Barclays dropped their price target on Fortis from $60.00 to $56.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $50.00 price target on Fortis in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.00.

Fortis Profile

Fortis Inc (NYSE: FTS) is a regulated electric and gas utility holding company headquartered in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Through its operating utilities, the company generates, transmits and distributes electricity and provides natural gas distribution services to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Fortis operates a portfolio of utility businesses across Canada, the United States and the Caribbean. Its regulated operations include electric utilities in several Canadian provinces, U.S.