Short Interest in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) Drops By 31.1%

Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) was the target of a large decline in short interest in 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 days-to-cover ratio is presently 9.8 days. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Fortis in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Fortis Price Performance

Shares of FTS stock traded up $0.49 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $45.23. 563,896 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 625,625. 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 company has a market cap of $22.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $43.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.72. Fortis has a fifty-two week low of $36.86 and a fifty-two week high of $46.06.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 14th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.09% and a net margin of 14.12%. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Fortis will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.4324 per share. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.03%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortis

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FTS. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Fortis by 724.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 577 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortis in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Fortis by 34.1% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,006 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new position in Fortis during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in Fortis by 38.5% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,726 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares during the period. 57.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.