Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Short Interest Down 39.5% in May

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,390,000 shares, a drop of 39.5% from the May 15th total of 15,530,000 shares. Approximately 1.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 584,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 16.1 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FTS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Desjardins initiated coverage on Fortis in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Fortis from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fortis presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $72.00.

Fortis Price Performance

Shares of FTS stock traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $47.32. The stock had a trading volume of 337,821 shares, compared to its average volume of 611,000. Fortis 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 1.34, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $48.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.97, a PEG ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.49.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.01. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.08% and a net margin of 14.20%. The company had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Fortis will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortis

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTS. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Fortis during the fourth quarter worth approximately $182,242,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Fortis by 218.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,648,592 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $166,303,000 after buying an additional 2,503,531 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fortis by 77.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,257,486 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $180,686,000 after buying an additional 1,853,082 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Fortis by 52.0% during the 1st quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 4,922,870 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $224,278,000 after acquiring an additional 1,683,377 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of Fortis by 42.1% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,443,333 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $184,878,000 after acquiring an additional 1,316,394 shares during the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.