5,844,951 Shares in Fortis $FTS Purchased by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Fortis (NYSE:FTS) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 5,844,951 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $334,727,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FTS. Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new stake in shares of Fortis in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in Fortis in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Fortis in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC purchased a new position in Fortis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA raised its holdings in Fortis by 157.4% during the 3rd quarter. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA now owns 700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares during the period. 57.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on FTS. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lowered Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Fortis from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Fortis in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fortis presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.33.

Fortis Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of FTS stock opened at $55.10 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $28.15 billion, a PE ratio of 22.31 and a beta of 0.43. Fortis has a 52-week low of $48.64 and a 52-week high of $59.40. The business’s fifty day moving average is $57.04 and its 200 day moving average is $56.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.56.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.83 billion. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.16% and a net margin of 14.17%.During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.76 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Fortis will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. Fortis’s payout ratio is presently 73.68%.

Fortis Profile

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.