Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) Short Interest Down 44.7% in February

Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 8,200,000 shares, a decrease of 44.7% from the February 13th total of 14,830,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 605,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 13.6 days. Approximately 1.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Fortis Price Performance

NYSE:FTS traded down $0.29 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $45.01. 90,391 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 624,640. Fortis has a 12 month low of $36.86 and a 12 month high of $46.06. The company has a fifty day moving average of $43.28 and a 200 day moving average of $43.69. 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 stock has a market cap of $22.47 billion, a PE ratio of 19.07, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.48.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 for 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 last year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Fortis will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Remove Ads

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.4324 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.84%. Fortis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Fortis in a 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 stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold".

Institutional Trading of Fortis

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Fortis by 34.1% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,006 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Fortis by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,087 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $211,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. Code Waechter LLC boosted its position in Fortis by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Code Waechter LLC now owns 18,708 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $778,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in Fortis by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 9,515 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $396,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in Fortis by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 6,265 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the period. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.