Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Grows Position in Fortis $FTS

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its stake in Fortis (NYSE:FTS) by 135.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 343,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 197,072 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund owned 0.07% of Fortis worth $19,133,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FTS. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Fortis in the 4th quarter valued at $335,980,000. FIL Ltd lifted its position in Fortis by 9.1% during the 4th 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. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in 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 period. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its stake in Fortis by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 8,564,134 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $445,335,000 after purchasing an additional 677,226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Fortis by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,129,958 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,254,541,000 after purchasing an additional 536,118 shares during the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortis Stock Performance

NYSE FTS opened at $58.34 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.71 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.49. Fortis has a fifty-two week low of $48.28 and a fifty-two week high of $59.21.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.72 EPS 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 return on equity of 7.25% and a net margin of 14.21%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Fortis will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on FTS shares. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce cut Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered Fortis from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Fortis from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 8th. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fortis has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.