Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) Short Interest Down 10.1% in October

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FTS has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group raised Fortis to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Fortis from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 4th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Fortis in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They issued an “underperform” rating on the stock.

Fortis Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE FTS opened at $43.28 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.69. Fortis has a 52 week low of $36.86 and a 52 week high of $46.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.66, a PEG ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.47. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $44.51 and its 200 day moving average is $41.72.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.02. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.04% and a net margin of 13.90%. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Fortis will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $0.615 dividend. This represents a $2.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This is a boost from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Fortis’s payout ratio is currently 78.02%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Fortis by 123.5% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 666 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in Fortis in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Fortis by 53.6% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 992 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Fortis in the first quarter valued at about $69,000. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Fortis in the second quarter valued at about $80,000. Institutional investors own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

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.