Vise Technologies Inc. Makes New Investment in Fortis $FTS

Vise Technologies Inc. bought a new stake in Fortis (NYSE:FTS) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 11,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $528,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of FTS. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of Fortis by 157.3% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 766 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in Fortis by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 53,120 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,536,000 after acquiring an additional 3,005 shares during the period. Aviva PLC grew its stake in Fortis by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 1,165,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $55,660,000 after acquiring an additional 9,659 shares in the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Fortis in the 2nd quarter valued at about $699,000. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fortis by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 18,887 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $902,000 after purchasing an additional 1,828 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Fortis Price Performance

Shares of FTS stock opened at $52.27 on Friday. Fortis has a 12 month low of $40.32 and a 12 month high of $52.83. The company has a market capitalization of $26.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $50.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities analysts expect that Fortis will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a dividend of $0.64 per share. This is an increase from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.9%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.