Community Financial Services Group LLC Decreases Position in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

Community Financial Services Group LLC lowered its stake in shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,028 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,368 shares during the period. Community Financial Services Group LLC’s holdings in Fortis were worth $683,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Fortis by 123.5% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 666 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fortis during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fortis by 53.6% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 992 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Fortis during the 1st quarter worth approximately $60,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Fortis in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Fortis Stock Down 0.2 %

Fortis stock opened at $44.83 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.48. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $36.86 and a 1-year high of $46.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.47.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. On average, analysts predict that Fortis Inc. will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.615 dividend. This represents a $2.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.49%. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on FTS. UBS Group upgraded shares of Fortis to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Fortis from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 4th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of Fortis in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued an “underperform” rating for the company.

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.