Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) Shares Acquired by Creative Planning

Creative Planning grew its position in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) by 21.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 52,266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,108 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in Fortis were worth $2,375,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fortis by 123.5% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 666 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fortis in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fortis by 53.6% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 992 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Fortis in the 1st quarter valued at $60,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fortis in the 1st quarter valued at $69,000. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FTS opened at $43.79 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $44.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.63. Fortis Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.86 and a 12 month high of $46.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.47.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.02. Fortis had a net margin of 13.90% and a return on equity of 7.04%. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Fortis Inc. will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.615 per share. This is an increase from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on FTS. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Fortis from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 4th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Fortis to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of Fortis in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They set an “underperform” rating on the stock.

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.