Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Hits New 12-Month High - Still a Buy?

Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $48.08 and last traded at $48.02, with a volume of 68339 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.39.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Fortis in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold".

Fortis Trading Up 1.1 %

The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $45.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.86. The company has a market capitalization of $24.16 billion, a PE ratio of 20.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.08 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 7.09%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Fortis Inc. will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.4324 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.59%. Fortis's dividend payout ratio is currently 72.03%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Fortis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,751,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 847.9% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 181,586 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $7,548,000 after acquiring an additional 162,430 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Fortis by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,890,184 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $131,330,000 after acquiring an additional 250,630 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden raised its holdings in shares of Fortis by 94.8% during the fourth quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 294,600 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $12,235,000 after buying an additional 143,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Fortis by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 14,544 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $605,000 after buying an additional 1,638 shares during the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.