Cumberland Partners Ltd Buys 1,600 Shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

Cumberland Partners Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 29,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Cumberland Partners Ltd’s holdings in Fortis were worth $1,220,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rational Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fortis in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Fortis during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $96,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in Fortis by 111.2% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,598 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 1,368 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new position in Fortis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $254,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP raised its position in Fortis by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 6,535 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $248,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Fortis from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.13.

Fortis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FTS traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $39.25. 337,043 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 841,021. The firm has a market cap of $19.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.05, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.42. Fortis Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.30 and a twelve month high of $46.28. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.39 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 7.00%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Fortis Inc. will post 2.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $0.4382 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.47%. This is a boost from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.65%.

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.