Forsta AP Fonden Sells 13,800 Shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

Forsta AP Fonden decreased its holdings in shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) by 9.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 131,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 13,800 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Fortis were worth $5,098,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Fortis by 123.5% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 666 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fortis during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fortis by 53.6% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 992 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Fortis in the 1st quarter worth approximately $60,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Fortis during the 1st quarter worth approximately $69,000. Institutional investors own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Fortis Price Performance

NYSE FTS opened at $45.49 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.50. Fortis Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.30 and a 52-week high of $45.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $22.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.61, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.47.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.02. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.04% and a net margin of 13.90%. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. Analysts anticipate that Fortis Inc. will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were issued a $0.431 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 20th. Fortis’s payout ratio is presently 73.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FTS has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of Fortis to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Fortis from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 4th.

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.