Fortis $FTS Stock Sold by Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd.

Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. lowered its holdings in shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS) by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,211,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 259,163 shares during the period. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. owned about 0.62% of Fortis worth $170,041,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Fortis by 4.6% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 35,241,451 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,966,121,000 after buying an additional 1,557,443 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fortis by 0.7% during the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 9,504,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $502,562,000 after buying an additional 68,504 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. bought a new position in shares of Fortis during the second quarter valued at about $442,633,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Fortis in the second quarter worth about $334,727,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Fortis in the second quarter worth about $311,146,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Fortis from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $50.00 price objective on Fortis in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.67.

Fortis Price Performance

Shares of Fortis stock opened at $59.48 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $55.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.11. Fortis has a 12-month low of $49.99 and a 12-month high of $61.71. The firm has a market cap of $30.68 billion, a PE ratio of 23.52 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.27 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 14.66% and a return on equity of 7.37%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Fortis will post 2.58 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 17th will be paid a C$0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 17th. This is a boost from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of C$0.64. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Fortis’s payout ratio is 71.65%.

Fortis Company Profile

Fortis Inc is a Canadian utility company that owns and operates regulated electric and natural gas businesses. Its activities include electricity generation, transmission and distribution, as well as natural gas distribution and energy infrastructure services.

The company serves customers across Canada, the United States and the Caribbean through a group of regional utilities. Its operations include electric utilities and natural gas businesses serving communities in provinces such as British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as U.S.