UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Has $22.27 Million Stake in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) by 41.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 490,195 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 344,638 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in Fortis were worth $22,274,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position 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 buying an additional 368 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fortis during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new stake in shares of Fortis during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Fortis during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $80,000. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Fortis by 52.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 630 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Fortis Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE FTS opened at $44.90 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $22.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.87, a P/E/G ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $44.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.74. Fortis Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.86 and a 52-week high of $46.06.

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

Fortis Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $0.615 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.48%. This is a positive change from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Fortis’s payout ratio is presently 76.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FTS. Raymond James cut shares of Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Fortis to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of Fortis in a report on Friday, September 20th. They set an “underperform” rating for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce”.

Fortis Company 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.