Westerkirk Capital Inc. Sells 19,700 Shares of Fortis $FTS

Westerkirk Capital Inc. decreased its position in shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS) by 93.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 19,700 shares during the quarter. Westerkirk Capital Inc.’s holdings in Fortis were worth $73,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cidel Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Fortis by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 963,061 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,859,000 after purchasing an additional 25,809 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in shares of Fortis by 68.8% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 313,659 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,913,000 after purchasing an additional 127,868 shares during the period. Coleford Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Fortis during the third quarter valued at approximately $10,516,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in Fortis by 40.5% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 175,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,150,000 after buying an additional 50,632 shares during the period. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Fortis by 2.4% during the third quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 813,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,238,000 after buying an additional 18,896 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FTS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Friday, February 13th. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen cut Fortis from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Fortis from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.00.

Fortis Stock Performance

Shares of FTS opened at $55.74 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $56.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $54.65. The stock has a market cap of $28.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.66 and a beta of 0.43. Fortis has a one year low of $46.46 and a one year high of $58.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.49.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.56 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 14.21% and a return on equity of 7.25%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Fortis will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

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.