Mufg Securities Canada LTD. Reduces Stake in Fortis $FTS

Mufg Securities Canada LTD. trimmed its stake in Fortis (NYSE:FTS) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 769,632 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 63,706 shares during the quarter. Fortis makes up 1.1% of Mufg Securities Canada LTD.’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Mufg Securities Canada LTD.’s holdings in Fortis were worth $40,023,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. West Family Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of Fortis by 4.3% in the third quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 5,443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the period. Compound Planning Inc. raised its position in shares of Fortis by 6.6% in the third quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 4,536 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $230,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the period. JCIC Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Fortis by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,990 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its position in shares of Fortis by 1.7% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 18,370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $932,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in shares of Fortis by 0.6% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 48,548 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,313,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Fortis Stock Performance

Fortis stock opened at $56.90 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.97 billion, a PE ratio of 23.13 and a beta of 0.43. Fortis has a 1-year low of $46.46 and a 1-year high of $58.78.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.45 billion for 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Fortis will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on FTS. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Fortis from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Fortis from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.00.

Fortis Profile

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.