Swiss National Bank Sells 81,000 Shares of Fortis $FTS

Swiss National Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS) by 5.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,443,182 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 81,000 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Fortis were worth $73,233,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of FTS. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Fortis in the second quarter valued at about $291,400,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Fortis by 18.6% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,414,298 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $262,828,000 after purchasing an additional 849,606 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Fortis by 3.4% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,025,514 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,099,399,000 after purchasing an additional 759,772 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its stake in Fortis by 7.7% in the second quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 4,897,492 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $233,947,000 after purchasing an additional 351,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Fortis by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,224,022 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $296,614,000 after purchasing an additional 345,633 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Fortis Stock Performance

FTS opened at $57.37 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Fortis has a 12-month low of $43.28 and a 12-month high of $58.23. The business has a 50 day moving average of $54.44 and a 200-day moving average of $52.07. The stock has a market cap of $29.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.51, a PEG ratio of 4.39 and a beta of 0.49.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.03. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.24% and a net margin of 14.24%.The business had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.83 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Fortis will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $0.64 dividend. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Fortis’s payout ratio is currently 77.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on FTS shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Friday, February 13th. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Fortis from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fortis presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.00.

Fortis 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.