Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Has $253.02 Million Stock Holdings in Fortis $FTS

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,871,309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 297,467 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s holdings in Fortis were worth $253,016,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Fortis by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,129,958 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,254,541,000 after acquiring an additional 536,118 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Fortis by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 13,531,955 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $686,518,000 after acquiring an additional 57,447 shares in the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. raised its holdings in Fortis by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 9,163,354 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $461,748,000 after acquiring an additional 326,212 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Fortis by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,593,417 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $357,381,000 after acquiring an additional 372,377 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Fortis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $335,980,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on FTS shares. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Thursday, May 7th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Friday, February 13th. Barclays cut their price target on Fortis from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Friday, February 13th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fortis presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.00.

Fortis Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of FTS opened at $55.88 on Friday. Fortis has a 1 year low of $46.46 and a 1 year high of $58.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.58. The stock has a market cap of $28.45 billion, a PE ratio of 22.71 and a beta of 0.43.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.56 billion. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.25% and a net margin of 14.21%.During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.00 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Fortis will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Fortis

Fortis Inc is a Canadian diversified electric and gas utility holding company headquartered in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. Through a portfolio of regulated utility subsidiaries, the company develops, owns and operates electricity and natural gas transmission, distribution and generation assets. Fortis serves customers across multiple jurisdictions in Canada, the United States and the Caribbean, focusing on the delivery of safe, reliable energy to residential, commercial and industrial users.

The company’s core activities include operation and maintenance of transmission and distribution networks, ownership of generation facilities, and investment in grid modernization and system resilience.