Shell Asset Management Co. Cuts Holdings in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

Shell Asset Management Co. lessened its position in shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) by 25.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,846 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 11,500 shares during the period. Shell Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Fortis were worth $1,406,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTS. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Fortis by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 9,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $396,000 after buying an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in Fortis by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 6,265 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fortis by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,302 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $179,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fortis by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 34,918 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,452,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the period. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its stake in Fortis by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 89,681 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,728,000 after acquiring an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FTS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Fortis in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Fortis from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Desjardins initiated coverage on Fortis in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fortis currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $72.00.

Fortis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FTS opened at $47.13 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.50. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $46.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.42. Fortis Inc. has a one year low of $38.15 and a one year high of $50.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.63.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.01. Fortis had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 7.09%. The firm had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.93 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Fortis Inc. will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Company Profile

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.