Short Interest in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) Decreases By 10.1%

Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,220,000 shares, a drop of 10.1% from the September 30th total of 8,030,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 615,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 11.7 days.

Fortis Price Performance

Fortis stock traded up $0.30 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $43.53. 258,623 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 697,156. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $44.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.73. Fortis has a one year low of $36.86 and a one year high of $46.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $21.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.47.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 13.90% and a return on equity of 7.04%. On average, equities analysts predict that Fortis will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.615 per share. This represents a $2.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This is a positive change from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is 78.02%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortis

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 29.2% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 1,023 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Fortis by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,147,377 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,363,000 after acquiring an additional 3,561 shares in the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its position in Fortis by 0.7% during the first quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 590,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $21,919,000 after buying an additional 4,160 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Fortis by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 115,186 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,553,000 after acquiring an additional 5,160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fortis during the first quarter valued at approximately $725,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FTS has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Fortis from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 4th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Fortis in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They set an “underperform” rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Fortis to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th.

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.