Ninepoint Partners LP Sells 1,703 Shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

Ninepoint Partners LP decreased its stake in shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) by 2.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 78,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,703 shares during the period. Fortis comprises 0.3% of Ninepoint Partners LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Ninepoint Partners LP’s holdings in Fortis were worth $3,063,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,072,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $793,049,000 after buying an additional 229,972 shares during the period. FIL Ltd lifted its holdings in Fortis by 33.8% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 19,477,406 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $801,263,000 after acquiring an additional 4,924,031 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Fortis by 2.3% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 12,151,327 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $472,164,000 after purchasing an additional 270,417 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Fortis by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 9,199,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $357,291,000 after purchasing an additional 95,813 shares during the period. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in shares of Fortis by 26.9% during the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 9,071,484 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $352,336,000 after purchasing an additional 1,920,728 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Fortis Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:FTS opened at $45.56 on Friday. Fortis Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.30 and a 12-month high of $45.83. The company has a market cap of $22.56 billion, a PE ratio of 19.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.47. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $43.49 and a 200 day moving average of $40.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Fortis Inc. will post 2.34 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $0.615 dividend. This represents a $2.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.40%. This is an increase from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Fortis’s payout ratio is presently 73.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Fortis from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 4th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Fortis in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set an “underperform” rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group raised Fortis to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fortis currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $61.00.

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.