Triasima Portfolio Management inc. Sells 400 Shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

Triasima Portfolio Management inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,975 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 400 shares during the period. Triasima Portfolio Management inc.’s holdings in Fortis were worth $1,126,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its holdings in Fortis by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 5,228 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 449 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in shares of Fortis by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 17,662 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $726,000 after purchasing an additional 1,266 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP grew its holdings in shares of Fortis by 70.4% during the 4th quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 11,135 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $458,000 after acquiring an additional 4,600 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Fortis by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 490,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $20,185,000 after purchasing an additional 54,417 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guardian Capital Advisors LP lifted its position in Fortis by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Guardian Capital Advisors LP now owns 244,685 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,405,000 after buying an additional 19,785 shares during the period. 57.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Fortis from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 4th.

Fortis Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of FTS stock traded down $0.67 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $44.59. 838,030 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 729,837. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $22.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.22, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.47. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.30. Fortis Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.30 and a 12-month high of $45.34.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.02. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.04% and a net margin of 13.90%. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. On average, analysts expect that Fortis Inc. will post 2.32 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 20th were paid a $0.431 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 20th. Fortis’s payout ratio is 73.28%.

Fortis Company Profile

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.