Fortis $FTS is Cidel Asset Management Inc.’s 4th Largest Position

Cidel Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Fortis (NYSE:FTS) by 82.5% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 981,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 443,675 shares during the period. Fortis makes up about 3.0% of Cidel Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Cidel Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Fortis were worth $54,568,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Fortis during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $335,980,000. FIL Ltd raised its position in Fortis by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 19,898,613 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,034,545,000 after acquiring an additional 1,666,481 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Fortis by 4,662.5% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 986,548 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,244,000 after acquiring an additional 965,833 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Fortis by 60.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,508,277 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $127,270,000 after acquiring an additional 947,079 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fortis by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 8,564,134 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $445,335,000 after acquiring an additional 677,226 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Fortis Stock Performance

NYSE FTS opened at $56.73 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.41. Fortis has a 1-year low of $46.46 and a 1-year high of $58.78. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.88 billion, a PE ratio of 23.06 and a beta of 0.43.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.56 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 14.21% and a return on equity of 7.25%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Fortis will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FTS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Fortis from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fortis presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.00.

Fortis Company Profile

Fortis Inc is a Canadian diversified electric and gas utility holding company headquartered in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. Through a portfolio of regulated utility subsidiaries, the company develops, owns and operates electricity and natural gas transmission, distribution and generation assets. Fortis serves customers across multiple jurisdictions in Canada, the United States and the Caribbean, focusing on the delivery of safe, reliable energy to residential, commercial and industrial users.

The company’s core activities include operation and maintenance of transmission and distribution networks, ownership of generation facilities, and investment in grid modernization and system resilience.