The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Buys New Position in Fortis $FTS

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in Fortis (NYSE:FTS) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 2,595,054 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $148,382,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Fortis by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,129,958 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,254,541,000 after buying an additional 536,118 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Fortis by 37.7% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 333,219 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,590,000 after acquiring an additional 91,219 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Fortis by 39.0% during the first quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,088,628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,720,000 after acquiring an additional 305,450 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Fortis by 4.6% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 35,241,451 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,966,121,000 after acquiring an additional 1,557,443 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Fortis by 103.4% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 48,777 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,714,000 after acquiring an additional 24,800 shares in the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fortis Stock Performance

Shares of FTS opened at $55.30 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $28.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.39 and a beta of 0.43. Fortis has a 52-week low of $48.64 and a 52-week high of $59.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $57.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.61.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.83 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 14.17% and a return on equity of 7.16%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.76 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Fortis will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be given a $0.64 dividend. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Fortis from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Wolfe Research set a $50.00 price target on shares of Fortis in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Fortis from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fortis presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.33.

About Fortis

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.