Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) Short Interest Update

Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 14,830,000 shares, an increase of 40.4% from the January 31st total of 10,560,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 561,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 26.4 days.

Fortis Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE FTS traded down $0.07 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $44.08. 173,139 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 569,428. Fortis has a fifty-two week low of $36.86 and a fifty-two week high of $46.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The firm has a market cap of $22.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $42.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.64.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) 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 earned $0.72 EPS. Analysts predict that Fortis will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $0.4324 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.92%. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FTS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James cut shares of Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Fortis in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Institutional Trading of Fortis

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Fortis by 48.8% in the 4th quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 59,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,471,000 after acquiring an additional 19,512 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its position in shares of Fortis by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 293,656 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,198,000 after purchasing an additional 2,628 shares in the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Fortis in the fourth quarter worth $216,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its holdings in Fortis by 114.3% during the fourth quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 341,377 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,167,000 after purchasing an additional 182,101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Twinbeech Capital LP bought a new position in Fortis in the fourth quarter valued at $302,000. 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.