Alberta Investment Management Corp Has $56.54 Million Stake in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

Alberta Investment Management Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,361,416 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 40,540 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Fortis were worth $56,541,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Fortis by 724.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 577 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Fortis during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Fortis by 34.1% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,006 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new stake in shares of Fortis in the third quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fortis by 52.2% in the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 630 shares during the period. 57.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortis Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of FTS opened at $43.62 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $21.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.48, a P/E/G ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Fortis Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.86 and a 12 month high of $46.06. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $42.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.56.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 14th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 7.19%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.72 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Fortis Inc. will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $0.4324 dividend. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on FTS. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Fortis in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Raymond James cut shares of Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold”.

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.