Baskin Financial Services Inc. Buys 10,700 Shares of Fortis $FTS

Baskin Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS) by 144.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,089 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,700 shares during the quarter. Baskin Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Fortis were worth $955,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fortis by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 9,504,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $502,562,000 after buying an additional 68,504 shares during the period. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. raised its position in shares of Fortis by 2.1% during the third quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. now owns 268,825 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,233,000 after acquiring an additional 5,635 shares during the last quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fortis by 6.4% during the third quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 19,962 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,054,000 after acquiring an additional 1,207 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fortis by 32.5% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $108,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares during the period. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fortis by 78.4% during the third quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the period. 57.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on FTS shares. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce cut Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Fortis from $60.00 to $56.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Wolfe Research set a $50.00 target price on shares of Fortis in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.00.

Fortis Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of FTS stock traded down $0.85 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $54.91. The company had a trading volume of 221,178 shares, compared to its average volume of 819,363. The company has a 50 day moving average of $54.54 and a 200 day moving average of $55.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market cap of $28.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.23 and a beta of 0.42. Fortis has a 1-year low of $49.60 and a 1-year high of $59.40.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.01. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.16% and a net margin of 14.17%. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Fortis will post 2.58 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were paid a C$0.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.7%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is 73.68%.

Fortis Company Profile

Fortis Inc is a Canadian utility holding company that owns and operates regulated electric and natural gas utilities. Its businesses are primarily focused on the transmission and distribution of electricity, natural gas distribution, and related energy infrastructure.

Through its portfolio of utility subsidiaries, Fortis serves customers across Canada and the United States, with additional operations in the Caribbean. Its businesses include electric utilities, natural gas utilities, and electric transmission assets, providing essential energy services to residential, commercial, and industrial customers.

Fortis has expanded from its Canadian utility origins through acquisitions and investments in regulated infrastructure.