Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Makes New Investment in Fortis $FTS

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new position in Fortis (NYSE:FTS) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 10,485 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $600,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Fortis during the 1st quarter worth approximately $311,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in Fortis by 19.1% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 565,150 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,760,000 after acquiring an additional 90,776 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Fortis by 148.0% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,902 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $139,000 after acquiring an additional 1,732 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fortis by 3.4% during the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 33,996 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,623,000 after purchasing an additional 1,109 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Fortis by 4.4% during the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 10,343 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $494,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on FTS shares. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Wolfe Research set a $50.00 price target on shares of Fortis in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Fortis from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.33.

Fortis Stock Performance

Fortis stock opened at $55.33 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $28.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.40 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $57.02 and a 200-day moving average of $56.62. Fortis has a 52 week low of $48.64 and a 52 week high of $59.40.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 14.17% and a return on equity of 7.16%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Fortis will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.64 per share. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.68%.

About Fortis

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.