Fortis $FTS Stake Raised by QV Investors Inc.

QV Investors Inc. boosted its position in Fortis (NYSE:FTS) by 0.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,064,121 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,242 shares during the period. Fortis makes up approximately 5.0% of QV Investors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. QV Investors Inc. owned 0.21% of Fortis worth $50,707,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Fortis Stock Down 0.5%

FTS opened at $51.42 on Friday. Fortis has a fifty-two week low of $40.32 and a fifty-two week 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $50.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.16, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.50.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.91 billion. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.24% and a net margin of 14.48%.During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.67 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Fortis will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.4448 per share. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. 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. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FTS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Saturday. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, National Bankshares reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.