Legal & General Group Plc Trims Position in Fortis $FTS

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its position in shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS) by 5.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,863,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 360,299 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Fortis were worth $297,487,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FTS. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 996 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of Fortis during the second quarter worth $56,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its position 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 valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 766 shares during the period. MAI Capital Management grew its position 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 valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 740 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaCore Capital LLC acquired a new position in Fortis in the second quarter valued at $119,000. 57.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Fortis from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Friday, February 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.00.

Fortis Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of FTS opened at $57.37 on Thursday. Fortis has a twelve month low of $43.28 and a twelve month high of $58.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.39 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.07.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.54 billion. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.24% and a net margin of 14.24%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.83 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Fortis will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a $0.64 dividend. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend 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%.

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.