Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,750,000 shares, an increase of 19.5% from the March 15th total of 5,650,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 646,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 10.4 days. Approximately 1.3% of the company's shares are short sold.

Fortis Trading Up 0.1 %

FTS stock traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $48.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 409,284 shares, compared to its average volume of 628,897. Fortis has a 12 month low of $38.15 and a 12 month high of $48.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The business's 50 day moving average price is $45.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.00. The company has a market cap of $24.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.46.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 14th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 7.09%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.72 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Fortis will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.4324 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. Fortis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Fortis in a report on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold".

Institutional Trading of Fortis

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTS. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Fortis by 724.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 577 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Fortis in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Fortis by 34.1% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,006 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Fortis by 286.7% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,106 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 820 shares during the period. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. increased its stake in Fortis by 158,500.0% during the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,586 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 1,585 shares in 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.