Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) Stock Position Raised by US Bancorp DE

US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) by 12.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,638 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Fortis were worth $605,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Fortis by 724.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 577 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Fortis during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Fortis by 34.1% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,006 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new stake in Fortis during the third quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Fortis during the third quarter worth about $149,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Fortis Price Performance

Shares of FTS stock opened at $44.42 on Wednesday. Fortis Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.86 and a 12-month high of $46.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $43.01 and a 200-day moving average of $43.66.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 7.09%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.72 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Fortis Inc. will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.4324 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.89%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Fortis in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

About Fortis

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.