111 Capital Sells 23,414 Shares of Fortis $FTS

111 Capital lowered its stake in Fortis (NYSE:FTS) by 43.4% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 30,583 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 23,414 shares during the period. 111 Capital’s holdings in Fortis were worth $1,461,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JCIC Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Fortis by 5.7% during the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,377 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $245,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC boosted its stake in Fortis by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 9,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $420,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the period. Cigna Investments Inc. New increased its holdings in Fortis by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New now owns 9,219 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $420,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Fortis by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 18,965 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $864,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versor Investments LP raised its stake in shares of Fortis by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 19,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $904,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Fortis Stock Performance

Shares of FTS stock opened at $50.26 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $49.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.18. Fortis has a one year low of $40.32 and a one year high of $51.45. The stock has a market cap of $25.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.47.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last issued its 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 net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 7.24%. The company had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Fortis will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were given a $0.4448 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 19th. This is a positive change from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Fortis’s payout ratio is 72.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on FTS shares. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Desjardins raised shares of Fortis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. National Bankshares reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Monday, August 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.