Federated Hermes Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

Federated Hermes Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) by 9.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 219,910 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 22,770 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Fortis were worth $9,142,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Fortis by 724.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 577 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Fortis in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new position in shares of Fortis during the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Fortis by 34.1% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,006 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Fortis by 38.5% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,726 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares in the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortis Stock Up 1.8 %

FTS stock opened at $45.24 on Friday. Fortis Inc. has a one year low of $36.86 and a one year high of $48.07. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $44.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.76. The firm has a market cap of $22.59 billion, a PE ratio of 19.17, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.08 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 7.09%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.72 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Fortis Inc. will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.4324 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.82%. Fortis’s payout ratio is presently 72.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Fortis in a report on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

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.