BNP Paribas Financial Markets Makes New $44,000 Investment in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new position in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 976 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $44,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in Fortis during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Fortis by 52.2% in the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 630 shares during the period. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA bought a new position in Fortis during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $209,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its holdings in Fortis by 13.1% during the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 7,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 910 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its stake in Fortis by 58.3% in the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 8,457 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $384,000 after purchasing an additional 3,115 shares in the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on FTS shares. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Fortis in a report on Friday, September 20th. They issued an “underperform” rating for the company. UBS Group raised Fortis to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Raymond James lowered Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th.

Fortis Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of FTS stock opened at $41.16 on Friday. Fortis Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.86 and a 12-month high of $46.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $43.93 and a 200-day moving average of $42.75. The company has a market capitalization of $20.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.49.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.01 billion. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.01% and a net margin of 14.06%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Fortis Inc. will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.4382 dividend. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.26%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Fortis’s payout ratio is 76.05%.

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.