Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

Fortis Price Performance

Shares of FTS opened at $39.95 on Tuesday. Fortis has a 1-year low of $36.30 and a 1-year high of $43.84. The stock has a market cap of $19.70 billion, a PE ratio of 17.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $39.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.66.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.04. Fortis had a net margin of 13.66% and a return on equity of 7.02%. The business had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fortis will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortis

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd increased its stake in shares of Fortis by 9.0% during the first quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 3,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $132,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fortis by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 109,817 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,517,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fortis by 53.6% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 992 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Fortis by 123.5% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 666 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares during the period. Finally, Gold Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in Fortis by 0.5% during the first quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. now owns 81,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,208,000 after buying an additional 389 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.