Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. Cuts Stake in Fortis $FTS

Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. trimmed its stake in Fortis (NYSE:FTS) by 65.0% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 73,248 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 135,993 shares during the quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc.’s holdings in Fortis were worth $3,497,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Newport Trust Company LLC grew its stake in shares of Fortis by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 9,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $420,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the period. Cigna Investments Inc. New grew its position in Fortis by 3.6% during the first quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New now owns 9,219 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $420,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in Fortis by 2.0% during the second quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 18,070 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $862,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Fortis by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 18,965 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $864,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versor Investments LP grew its holdings in shares of Fortis by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 19,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $904,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Desjardins raised shares of Fortis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Cibc World Mkts raised Fortis from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. National Bankshares reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fortis presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.00.

Fortis Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE FTS opened at $51.05 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $25.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.01, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.49. Fortis has a 1 year low of $40.32 and a 1 year high of $52.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.58. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.05.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.02). Fortis had a return on equity of 7.24% and a net margin of 14.48%.The business had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.22 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Fortis will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.64 dividend. This is a boost from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.75%.

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.