Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) Shares Acquired by Deutsche Bank AG

Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 764,301 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,400 shares during the quarter. Deutsche Bank AG’s holdings in Fortis were worth $31,772,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fortis by 724.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 577 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Fortis during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Fortis by 38.5% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,726 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in Fortis by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,302 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $179,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clear Creek Financial Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fortis during the 4th quarter worth about $203,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FTS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Desjardins assumed coverage on shares of Fortis in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Fortis in a report on Thursday, February 13th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Fortis from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.00.

Fortis Price Performance

FTS opened at $46.55 on Wednesday. Fortis Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.15 and a 1 year high of $50.06. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.35 billion, a PE ratio of 19.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.01. Fortis had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 7.09%. The company had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Fortis Inc. will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.4324 per share. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.73%.

Fortis Profile

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.