Signaturefd LLC Acquires 3,277 Shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 26,094 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,277 shares during the quarter. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Fortis were worth $1,186,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of FTS. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fortis by 29.2% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $186,000 after purchasing an additional 1,023 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Fortis by 9.5% during the 1st quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 9,576 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $378,000 after acquiring an additional 831 shares in the last quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fortis by 23.6% during the 1st quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 222,965 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,809,000 after acquiring an additional 42,636 shares in the last quarter. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in shares of Fortis during the 1st quarter worth approximately $60,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fortis by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,147,377 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,363,000 after acquiring an additional 3,561 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. 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 initiated coverage on shares of Fortis in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They set an “underperform” rating for the company.

Fortis Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:FTS opened at $44.87 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $22.22 billion, a PE ratio of 19.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.47. Fortis Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.86 and a twelve month high of $46.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company’s 50 day moving average is $44.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.54.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 13.90% and a return on equity of 7.04%. Analysts anticipate that Fortis Inc. will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.615 per share. This represents a $2.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This is an increase from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Fortis’s payout ratio is currently 78.02%.

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.