Mufg Securities Canada LTD. Purchases 319,884 Shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

Mufg Securities Canada LTD. raised its holdings in shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) by 72.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 759,384 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 319,884 shares during the period. Fortis comprises approximately 1.1% of Mufg Securities Canada LTD.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Mufg Securities Canada LTD. owned about 0.15% of Fortis worth $31,534,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FTS. Blue Trust Inc. increased 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 buying an additional 507 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Fortis in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Fortis by 34.1% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,006 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new stake in shares of Fortis during the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fortis by 38.5% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,726 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares during the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Fortis in a report on Thursday, February 13th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Fortis presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Fortis Trading Down 1.1 %

FTS opened at $44.43 on Wednesday. Fortis Inc. has a one year low of $36.86 and a one year high of $46.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.83, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.48.

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

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.4324 dividend. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Fortis’s payout ratio is currently 72.03%.

Fortis Company 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.