Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) Stock Holdings Boosted by Neuberger Berman Group LLC

Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its position in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,316 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,590 shares during the quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC’s holdings in Fortis were worth $2,007,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FTS. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fortis by 724.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 577 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Fortis in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new stake in Fortis in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Fortis by 34.1% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,006 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in Fortis by 38.5% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,726 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 758 shares during the period. 57.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortis Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE:FTS opened at $46.59 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $44.64 and a 200-day moving average of $43.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The firm has a market cap of $23.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.46. Fortis Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.86 and a twelve month high of $48.07.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.09% and a net margin of 14.12%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Fortis Inc. will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $0.4324 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Fortis in a report on Thursday, February 13th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fortis has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

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.