Van ECK Associates Corp Has $12.84 Million Position in Fortis $FTS

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Fortis (NYSE:FTS) by 8.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 224,393 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 18,304 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Fortis were worth $12,842,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FTS. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of Fortis by 4.6% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 35,241,451 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,966,121,000 after acquiring an additional 1,557,443 shares during the period. FIL Ltd raised its holdings in Fortis by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 19,898,613 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,034,545,000 after purchasing an additional 1,666,481 shares during the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. raised its holdings in Fortis by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 9,163,354 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $461,748,000 after purchasing an additional 326,212 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its position in shares of Fortis by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 8,564,134 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $445,335,000 after purchasing an additional 677,226 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Fortis by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,593,417 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $357,381,000 after purchasing an additional 372,377 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Fortis Price Performance

Fortis stock opened at $55.24 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.36 and a beta of 0.43. Fortis has a 52-week low of $48.64 and a 52-week high of $59.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.56. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $56.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.64.

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

Fortis Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on FTS. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Fortis from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Fortis from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce cut shares of Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $50.00 price objective on Fortis in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.33.

Fortis Company 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.