Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) Short Interest Update

Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 15,530,000 shares, an increase of 20.0% from the April 30th total of 12,940,000 shares. Currently, 3.1% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 632,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 24.6 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortis

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTS. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 724.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 577 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 507 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Fortis in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortis in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 820 shares during the period. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 111.7% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,226 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 647 shares during the period. 57.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fortis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FTS traded down $0.61 on Friday, hitting $47.49. 452,751 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 612,052. Fortis has a 1-year low of $38.15 and a 1-year high of $50.06. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $47.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.86. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $23.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.50.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.01. Fortis had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 7.09%. The business had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Fortis will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FTS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Desjardins initiated coverage on shares of Fortis in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Fortis from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Fortis in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $72.00.

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.