Fortis $FTS Shares Purchased by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS) by 4.6% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 35,241,451 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,557,443 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 0.07% of Fortis worth $1,966,121,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTS. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fortis during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $311,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fortis by 19.1% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 565,150 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,760,000 after acquiring an additional 90,776 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fortis by 148.0% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,902 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $139,000 after acquiring an additional 1,732 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Fortis by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 33,996 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,623,000 after purchasing an additional 1,109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in Fortis by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 10,343 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $494,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on FTS shares. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Fortis from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Fortis from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce cut shares of Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.00.

Fortis Price Performance

FTS stock opened at $58.41 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.74 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Fortis has a 52-week low of $48.35 and a 52-week high of $59.40. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.10.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.02. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.25% and a net margin of 14.21%.The firm had revenue of $2.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Fortis will post 2.58 EPS for the current year.

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.