Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) Holdings Decreased by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Hsbc Holdings PLC reduced its holdings in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) by 39.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 174,087 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 111,079 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Fortis were worth $6,755,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FTS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Fortis by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 490,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $20,185,000 after acquiring an additional 54,417 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its stake in shares of Fortis by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 194,666 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,007,000 after purchasing an additional 26,860 shares in the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 43,526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,799,000 after buying an additional 6,569 shares during the last quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd grew its stake in shares of Fortis by 30.7% in the 4th quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd now owns 40,604 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,678,000 after buying an additional 9,532 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Fortis by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 13,380,619 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $553,145,000 after buying an additional 2,438,223 shares during the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortis Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:FTS opened at $45.01 on Tuesday. 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’s 50-day moving average is $43.19 and its 200-day moving average is $40.76. The company has a market cap of $22.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.47. Fortis Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.30 and a 52-week high of $45.83.

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

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were issued a $0.431 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 20th. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Fortis from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 4th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Fortis in a report on Friday. They issued an “underperform” rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Fortis to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $61.00.

Fortis 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.