Fortis $FTS Shares Sold by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its position in Fortis (NYSE:FTS) by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 610,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 24,865 shares during the quarter. Fortis makes up approximately 0.6% of Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Fortis were worth $29,190,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Fortis by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,265,742 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,014,227,000 after acquiring an additional 542,749 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Fortis by 4.9% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 12,870,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $586,192,000 after buying an additional 604,615 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Fortis by 52.0% during the first quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 4,922,870 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $224,278,000 after buying an additional 1,683,377 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Fortis by 218.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,648,592 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $166,303,000 after buying an additional 2,503,531 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in shares of Fortis by 1.7% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,644,691 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $120,488,000 after buying an additional 44,208 shares in the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortis Stock Performance

Shares of FTS opened at $50.37 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $49.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.28. 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 company has a market capitalization of $25.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.50. Fortis has a 52-week low of $40.32 and a 52-week high of $51.45.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.24% and a net margin of 14.48%.The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.67 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Fortis will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were paid a $0.4448 dividend. This is an increase from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 19th. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FTS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. National Bankshares reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Desjardins raised Fortis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.00.

About Fortis

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.