Greenland Capital Management LP Sells 130,505 Shares of Fortis $FTS

Greenland Capital Management LP trimmed its holdings in shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS) by 61.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 83,185 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 130,505 shares during the quarter. Greenland Capital Management LP’s holdings in Fortis were worth $3,963,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FTS. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH purchased a new stake in Fortis during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of Fortis by 157.3% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 766 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp bought a new stake in shares of Fortis in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $65,000. Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new position in Fortis in the first quarter valued at approximately $135,000. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Fortis during the second quarter valued at $200,000. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Fortis Stock Performance

NYSE:FTS opened at $51.96 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.58. Fortis has a fifty-two week low of $40.32 and a fifty-two week high of $52.83. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $50.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.24. The firm has a market cap of $26.26 billion, a PE ratio of 21.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.49.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 EPS 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. Equities research analysts predict that Fortis will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a dividend of $0.64 per share. This is an increase from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on FTS. Desjardins upgraded shares of Fortis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Fortis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.