Fortis $FTS Shares Sold by Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lowered its stake in Fortis (NYSE:FTS) by 15.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,159,753 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 763,117 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned 0.83% of Fortis worth $198,745,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Aviva PLC increased its holdings in Fortis by 0.8% in the second quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 1,165,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $55,660,000 after buying an additional 9,659 shares during the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Fortis in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $699,000. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Fortis by 10.7% during the 2nd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 18,887 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $902,000 after acquiring an additional 1,828 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC lifted its stake in Fortis by 21.7% during the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 23,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,135,000 after purchasing an additional 4,232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its stake in Fortis by 17.5% during the second quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 43,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,088,000 after purchasing an additional 6,510 shares during the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on FTS. National Bankshares reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Wednesday. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. CIBC reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Zacks Research downgraded Fortis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts upgraded Fortis from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.00.

Fortis Trading Up 0.4%

Fortis stock opened at $51.29 on Friday. Fortis has a 52-week low of $40.32 and a 52-week high of $52.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.11, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $50.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.07.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.02). Fortis had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 7.24%. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Fortis will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.64 per share. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. This is a positive change from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is 73.75%.

Fortis Company Profile

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.