Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) Shares Acquired by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) by 0.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,490,882 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,500 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned 0.30% of Fortis worth $67,848,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortis in the first quarter worth about $523,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Fortis by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,072,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $793,049,000 after purchasing an additional 229,972 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its position in Fortis by 102.9% during the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 6,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in Fortis by 53.6% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 992 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the period. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its position in shares of Fortis by 4.6% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 557,251 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $22,068,000 after buying an additional 24,469 shares in the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Fortis from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 4th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Fortis in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They issued an “underperform” rating on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of Fortis to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Raymond James cut Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce”.

Fortis Price Performance

Fortis stock opened at $44.76 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.80, a PEG ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Fortis Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.86 and a 52-week high of $46.06.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.26. Fortis had a net margin of 14.06% and a return on equity of 7.03%. The company had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Fortis Inc. will post 2.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.615 per share. This is an increase from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.50%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.85%.

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.