M&T Bank Corp Decreases Holdings in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

M&T Bank Corp trimmed its position in shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) by 15.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,810 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,684 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Fortis were worth $616,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Fortis by 724.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 577 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Fortis in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new position in Fortis in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Fortis by 34.1% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,006 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Fortis in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $149,000. 57.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Fortis in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Fortis Price Performance

Shares of Fortis stock opened at $44.57 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.48. Fortis Inc. has a one year low of $36.86 and a one year high of $46.06. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.63.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 14th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.09% and a net margin of 14.12%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. Analysts forecast that Fortis Inc. will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $0.4324 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.88%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.03%.

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.