Swiss National Bank Sells 81,000 Shares of Fortis $FTS

Swiss National Bank cut its position in Fortis (NYSE:FTS) by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,443,182 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 81,000 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.29% of Fortis worth $73,233,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Fortis by 2,119.1% in the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,043 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 996 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in Fortis in the second quarter valued at about $56,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Fortis by 157.3% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 766 shares in the last quarter. MAI Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Fortis by 55.8% in the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 2,067 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 740 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaCore Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fortis during the second quarter worth about $119,000. 57.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on FTS. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Friday, February 13th. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Fortis from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.00.

Fortis Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE:FTS opened at $57.37 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.07. Fortis has a 52-week low of $43.28 and a 52-week high of $58.23. The company has a market cap of $29.11 billion, a PE ratio of 23.51, a PEG ratio of 4.39 and a beta of 0.49. 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 (NYSE:FTS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.03. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.24% and a net margin of 14.24%.The firm had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.83 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Fortis will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a $0.64 dividend. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Fortis’s payout ratio is currently 77.05%.

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.