2,001,045 Shares in Fortis $FTS Bought by Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new stake in shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,001,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $114,523,000. Fortis comprises about 0.7% of Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of FTS. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fortis during the 1st quarter worth about $311,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 19.1% during 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 valued at $25,760,000 after buying an additional 90,776 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $139,000 after buying an additional 1,732 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Fortis by 4.4% in the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 10,343 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $494,000 after buying an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FTS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wolfe Research set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Fortis in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lowered shares of Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Fortis from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.33.

Fortis Stock Up 0.1%

FTS opened at $56.51 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $57.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.55. Fortis has a twelve month low of $48.64 and a twelve month high of $59.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $28.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.88 and a beta of 0.43.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.01. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.16% and a net margin of 14.17%.The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.76 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Fortis will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.64 per share. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.52%.

About Fortis

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.