Aviva PLC Grows Stock Position in Fortis $FTS

Aviva PLC lifted its stake in Fortis (NYSE:FTS) by 0.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,165,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,659 shares during the quarter. Aviva PLC owned approximately 0.23% of Fortis worth $55,660,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FTS. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Fortis by 218.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,648,592 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $166,303,000 after acquiring an additional 2,503,531 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Fortis by 52.0% in the 1st quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 4,922,870 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $224,278,000 after purchasing an additional 1,683,377 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec purchased a new stake in Fortis during the first quarter worth $54,838,000. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Fortis by 4.9% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 12,870,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $586,192,000 after buying an additional 604,615 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Fortis by 2.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,265,742 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,014,227,000 after acquiring an additional 542,749 shares during the period. 57.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on FTS shares. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Fortis from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. CIBC reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. National Bankshares restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Monday, October 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.00.

Fortis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FTS opened at $51.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.47. Fortis has a 1 year low of $40.32 and a 1 year high of $52.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.92 billion, a PE ratio of 21.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.49. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $50.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.07.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.02). Fortis had a return on equity of 7.24% and a net margin of 14.48%.The business had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Fortis will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a dividend of $0.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. This is a boost from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.0%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.75%.

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.