Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Reduces Holdings in Fortis $FTS

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. decreased its position in shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS) by 10.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,707,514 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 452,239 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Fortis were worth $188,012,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fortis by 2,119.1% during the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,043 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 996 shares during the period. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in Fortis in the 2nd quarter worth about $56,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in Fortis by 157.3% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 766 shares during the period. MAI Capital Management lifted its stake in Fortis by 55.8% in the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 2,067 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 740 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new stake in Fortis in the second quarter worth about $119,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Fortis from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Friday, February 13th. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fortis has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.00.

Fortis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FTS opened at $57.37 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.51. Fortis has a one year low of $43.28 and a one year high of $58.23. The firm has a market cap of $29.11 billion, a PE ratio of 23.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.39 and a beta of 0.49.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.03. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.24% and a net margin of 14.24%.The firm had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Fortis will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. Fortis’s payout ratio is 77.05%.

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.