QV Investors Inc. Increases Position in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

QV Investors Inc. increased its stake in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,074,643 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 60,380 shares during the period. Fortis accounts for 4.6% of QV Investors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. QV Investors Inc. owned approximately 0.22% of Fortis worth $44,631,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of FTS. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Fortis by 34.1% in the 4th 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 period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new stake in shares of Fortis in the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Fortis by 52.2% in the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 630 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Fortis during the 3rd quarter valued at about $149,000. Finally, CHICAGO TRUST Co NA bought a new stake in Fortis during the third quarter worth about $209,000. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fortis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FTS traded down $0.19 during trading on Monday, reaching $40.60. 212,563 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 347,753. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.27 billion, a PE ratio of 17.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.50. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.06. Fortis Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.86 and a 52-week high of $46.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 14.06% and a return on equity of 7.01%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Fortis Inc. will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.4382 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.32%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on FTS. Raymond James downgraded Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America started coverage on Fortis in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They issued an “underperform” rating for the company.

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.