Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) Shares Sold by Signaturefd LLC

Signaturefd LLC decreased its holdings in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,113 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 561 shares during the quarter. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Fortis were worth $951,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Rational Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Fortis during the third quarter worth approximately $41,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Fortis in the 3rd quarter worth $96,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Fortis by 111.2% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,598 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $107,000 after acquiring an additional 1,368 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP grew its position in Fortis by 12.0% during the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 6,535 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $248,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Fortis during the fourth quarter worth about $254,000. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com cut Fortis from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.13.

Fortis Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE:FTS opened at $39.02 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $39.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.23 billion, a PE ratio of 16.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.42. Fortis Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.30 and a 12 month high of $46.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.58.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.00% and a net margin of 13.22%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. Research analysts predict that Fortis Inc. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $0.4382 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This is an increase from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.49%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is 55.65%.

About Fortis

Fortis Inc operates as an electric and gas utility company in Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean countries. It generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to approximately 447,000 retail customers in southeastern Arizona; and 103,000 retail customers in Arizona's Mohave and Santa Cruz counties with an aggregate capacity of 3,408 megawatts (MW), including 68 MW of solar capacity and 250 MV of wind capacity.