Fortis $FTS Position Lifted by TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS) by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 9,436,026 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 129,466 shares during the quarter. Fortis makes up about 1.4% of TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.’s holdings in Fortis were worth $535,234,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new position in shares of Fortis during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Fortis in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Fortis in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC acquired a new stake in Fortis during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA raised its stake in Fortis by 157.4% during the third quarter. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA now owns 700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on FTS shares. Wolfe Research set a $50.00 target price on Fortis in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Monday, August 3rd. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen cut Fortis from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 23rd. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce downgraded shares of Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.33.

Fortis Price Performance

FTS opened at $55.54 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $28.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.49 and a beta of 0.42. Fortis has a fifty-two week low of $48.64 and a fifty-two week high of $59.40. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $56.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.01. Fortis had a net margin of 14.17% and a return on equity of 7.16%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Fortis will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were 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 was Wednesday, August 19th. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.68%.

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.