Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. increases equity stakes in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

fortis logo Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS – Get Rating) by 102.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). ). The institutional investor owned 413,784 shares of the utility provider after buying an additional 209,315 shares during the quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Fortis with a value of $16,546,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FTS. Power Corp of Canada purchased a new interest in Fortis in the first quarter for $31,000. Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Fortis in the third quarter for $44,000. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC acquired a new interest in Fortis during the fourth quarter for $75,000. Gamble Jones Investment Counsel acquired a new interest in Fortis during the third quarter for $77,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Fortis by 9.9% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,569 shares of the utility provider worth $177,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares last quarter. 49.59% of the shares are owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Rating Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank raised the target price on Fortis shares from Cdn57.00 to Cdn58.00 in a research report on Monday, January 23. StockNews.com took over coverage of Fortis shares in an investigative report on Thursday, March 16. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Fortis shares from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 14. They noted the move was a valuation call. National Bank Financial increased the price target on Fortis shares from Cdn55.00 to Cdn56.00 in a research report on Monday, February 13. Finally, CIBC increased its price target on Fortis shares from Cdn55.00 to Cdn57.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 10. One research analyst gave the stock a sell rating, four issued a hold rating and one issued a buy rating for the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average “Hold” rating and a consensus price target of $58.75.

Fortis trade rose 0.6%

NYSE:FTS rose $0.28 on Friday, reaching $44.26. 491,052 shares of the company’s share capital were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 617,095. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.65, and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company has a market capitalization of $21.34 billion, a price-earnings ratio of 20.78, a price-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54, and a beta of 0.44. The company has a fifty-day moving average of $40.98 and a 200-day moving average of $40.21. Fortis Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.76 and a 52-week high of $51.66.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 10. The utility provider reported earnings of $0.53 per share for the quarter, hitting analyst consensus estimates of $0.53. Fortis had a net margin of 12.20% and a return on equity of 6.48%. The company had revenue of $2.33 billion in the quarter, compared with analyst estimates of $2.06 billion. As a group, analysts expect Fortis Inc. to post earnings per share of 2.18 for the current year.

Fortis increases dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, to be paid on Thursday, June 1. Investors registered on Wednesday May 17 will receive a dividend of $0.4211. This represents a dividend of $1.68 on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.81%. This is an increase from Fortis’ previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 16. Fortis’ dividend payout ratio is 79.34%.

About Fortis

(Get rating)

Fortis, Inc is a power supply company engaged in the provision of power generation and distribution. It operates through the segments of Regulated and Unregulated Public Services. The Regulated Utilities segment is comprised of ITC, which primarily contains the electric transmission operations of ITC’s regulated operating subsidiaries, UNS Energy which provides vertically integrated utility services, Central Hudson which provides T&D utility services of regulated gas and electricity, FortisBC Energy distributes gas in British Columbia, FortisAlberta, which involves the ownership and operation of regulated electricity distribution facilities, FortisBC Electric includes ownership of hydroelectric generating plants, high-voltage transmission lines, and a large grid of distribution assets, and Other Electric which contains utilities in eastern Canada and the Caribbean.

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