Fiera Capital Corp Sells 30,030 Shares of Fortis $FTS

Fiera Capital Corp lowered its position in shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS) by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 734,281 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 30,030 shares during the quarter. Fiera Capital Corp’s holdings in Fortis were worth $35,038,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of FTS. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. purchased a new position in Fortis during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH purchased a new position in shares of Fortis during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Fortis by 157.3% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 766 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp purchased a new stake in shares of Fortis in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $65,000. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new position in Fortis during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $135,000. 57.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on FTS shares. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Fortis from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Zacks Research cut Fortis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, National Bankshares reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. One investment 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 MarketBeat, Fortis currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.00.

Fortis Price Performance

NYSE FTS opened at $52.34 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $50.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market cap of $26.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.54, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.49. Fortis has a 12 month low of $40.32 and a 12 month high of $52.83.

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

Fortis Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.64 per share. This is an increase from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. Fortis’s payout ratio is 75.83%.

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.