Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) Short Interest Down 31.1% in March

Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,650,000 shares, a decline of 31.1% from the February 28th total of 8,200,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 574,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 9.8 days. Approximately 1.1% of the company's shares are short sold.

Fortis Trading Up 2.6 %

FTS traded up $1.19 during trading on Thursday, hitting $47.35. 255,010 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 624,156. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.46. Fortis has a 12-month low of $36.86 and a 12-month high of $48.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $44.15 and a 200 day moving average of $43.74.

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

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Fortis Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.4324 per share. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Fortis's payout ratio is currently 72.03%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortis

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Fortis by 724.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 577 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Fortis in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new position in shares of Fortis in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Fortis by 34.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake in Fortis by 38.5% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,726 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares during the period. 57.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.