Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Sees Large Volume Increase - Here's What Happened

Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) saw strong trading volume on Friday . 5,839,703 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 708% from the previous session's volume of 722,727 shares.The stock last traded at $44.02 and had previously closed at $44.28.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James downgraded shares of Fortis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group raised Fortis to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Bank of America started coverage on Fortis in a report on Friday, September 20th. They set an "underperform" rating on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Fortis from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Reduce".

Fortis Trading Down 0.2 %

The company has a 50-day moving average of $44.41 and a 200 day moving average of $42.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The company has a market cap of $21.97 billion, a PE ratio of 18.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.47.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.26. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.03% and a net margin of 14.06%. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.63 EPS. Analysts predict that Fortis Inc. will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.615 per share. This is a boost from Fortis's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.57%. Fortis's payout ratio is 71.85%.

Institutional Trading of Fortis

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fortis by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,072,102 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $793,049,000 after purchasing an additional 229,972 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Fortis by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 12,151,327 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $472,164,000 after buying an additional 270,417 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Fortis by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 9,199,047 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $357,291,000 after acquiring an additional 95,813 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in shares of Fortis by 26.9% during the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 9,071,484 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $352,336,000 after acquiring an additional 1,920,728 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of Fortis by 21.8% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 5,190,336 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $235,839,000 after acquiring an additional 930,331 shares during the period. 57.77% of the stock is 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.