Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume on Strong Earnings

Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) saw strong trading volume on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. Approximately 6,876,745 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 1,026% from the previous session's volume of 610,908 shares.The stock last traded at $45.36 and had previously closed at $44.32.

The utilities provider reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. Fortis had a net margin of 14.06% and a return on equity of 7.01%. The company had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $0.4324 dividend. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Fortis's payout ratio is currently 79.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on FTS. Raymond James lowered Fortis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Fortis in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold".

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Fortis in the fourth quarter valued at about $182,242,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Fortis by 77.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,257,486 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $180,686,000 after acquiring an additional 1,853,082 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Fortis by 42.1% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,443,333 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $184,878,000 after acquiring an additional 1,316,394 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in Fortis by 21.8% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 5,190,336 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $235,839,000 after acquiring an additional 930,331 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in shares of Fortis by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 6,218,116 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $258,068,000 after purchasing an additional 612,395 shares during the period. 57.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fortis Trading Down 2.9 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $21.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.16, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.50. The business's 50-day moving average price is $42.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.63.

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.