Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) Shares Sold by Raymond James & Associates

Raymond James & Associates decreased its stake in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) by 17.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,145 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,529 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Fortis were worth $911,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of FTS. Rational Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Fortis during the 3rd quarter worth $41,000. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Fortis during the 3rd quarter worth $96,000. Versor Investments LP boosted its stake in Fortis by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 6,535 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. Simplicity Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Fortis by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 9,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $352,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares during the period. Finally, Pearl River Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Fortis during the 3rd quarter worth $365,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Fortis Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of Fortis stock opened at $39.02 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $19.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.96, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.67. Fortis Inc. has a one year low of $36.30 and a one year high of $46.28. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $39.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.98.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 7.00%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Fortis Inc. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $0.4382 dividend. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This is an increase from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Fortis from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.13.

Fortis Company Profile

Fortis Inc operates as an electric and gas utility company in Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean countries. It generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to approximately 447,000 retail customers in southeastern Arizona; and 103,000 retail customers in Arizona's Mohave and Santa Cruz counties with an aggregate capacity of 3,408 megawatts (MW), including 68 MW of solar capacity and 250 MV of wind capacity.