Wall Street Zen Downgrades Fortis (NYSE:FTS) to Sell

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

FTS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Friday, February 13th. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fortis has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.00.

Fortis Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:FTS opened at $58.16 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $29.51 billion, a PE ratio of 23.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $54.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.19. Fortis has a 12-month low of $43.28 and a 12-month high of $58.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.54 billion. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.24% and a net margin of 14.24%.During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Fortis will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortis

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. West Family Investments Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Fortis in the 2nd quarter valued at $249,000. Aviso Financial Inc. lifted its position in Fortis by 7.0% in the second quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 101,518 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,846,000 after acquiring an additional 6,682 shares during the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Fortis by 42.4% in the second quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 794,320 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,955,000 after acquiring an additional 236,347 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd boosted its stake in Fortis by 172.5% in the second quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 32,997 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,575,000 after acquiring an additional 20,889 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cidel Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Fortis by 2.8% in the third quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 963,061 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,859,000 after acquiring an additional 25,809 shares in the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.