First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Raises Holdings in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its stake in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) by 13.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 910 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Fortis were worth $357,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fortis by 123.5% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 666 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fortis in the second quarter worth about $32,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fortis by 53.6% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 992 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fortis in the first quarter worth about $69,000. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Fortis in the second quarter worth about $80,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on FTS. UBS Group raised Fortis to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. StockNews.com raised Fortis from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 4th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Fortis in a report on Friday, September 20th. They issued an “underperform” rating for the company.

Fortis Stock Performance

NYSE FTS opened at $42.79 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $44.47 and a 200 day moving average of $41.84. Fortis Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.86 and a twelve month high of $46.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.13, a PEG ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $0.615 dividend. This represents a $2.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This is an increase from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.46%.

Fortis 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.