Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Upgraded at StockNews.com

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Fortis from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $55.13.

Fortis Stock Performance

Shares of FTS stock traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $39.32. The stock had a trading volume of 658,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 877,175. The business's fifty day moving average is $39.45 and its 200-day moving average is $40.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market cap of $19.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.10, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.42. Fortis has a 1-year low of $36.30 and a 1-year high of $46.28.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.39 billion. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.00% and a net margin of 13.22%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Fortis will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortis

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quilter Plc purchased a new position in Fortis during the first quarter worth approximately $330,614,000. Power Corp of Canada purchased a new position in shares of Fortis in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of Fortis by 78.7% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 888 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Clarity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Fortis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Rational Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fortis in the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.77% of the company's stock.

About Fortis

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.

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