Magnetar Financial LLC Makes New Investment in Fortis $FTS

Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Fortis (NYSE:FTS) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 37,268 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,891,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortis in the first quarter valued at approximately $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 acquiring an additional 90,776 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Fortis by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 704,541 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,628,000 after acquiring an additional 2,116 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC raised its holdings in Fortis by 21.7% in the 2nd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 23,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,135,000 after acquiring an additional 4,232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Fortis by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 53,120 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,536,000 after acquiring an additional 3,005 shares during the period. 57.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Fortis Price Performance

Fortis stock opened at $58.06 on Friday. 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 52 week low of $43.28 and a 52 week high of $58.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $54.56 and a 200-day moving average of $52.11.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.54 billion. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.24% and a net margin of 14.24%.During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.83 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Fortis will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Dividend Announcement

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

About Fortis

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.