Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Short Interest Update

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totaling 17,111,074 shares, an increase of 67.0% from the April 30th total of 10,246,556 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 672,164 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 25.5 days. Approximately 3.4% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Western Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortis in the first quarter valued at about $100,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 103.4% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 48,777 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,714,000 after purchasing an additional 24,800 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 41.0% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,658 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 1,355 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 4.6% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 35,241,451 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,966,121,000 after purchasing an additional 1,557,443 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Fortis by 26.0% in the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,951,893 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $220,277,000 after purchasing an additional 815,349 shares in the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FTS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Fortis from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen cut Fortis from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.00.

Fortis Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE:FTS opened at $54.70 on Thursday. Fortis has a 1 year low of $46.46 and a 1 year high of $58.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market cap of $27.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.23 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $56.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.55.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.02. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.25% and a net margin of 14.21%.The firm had revenue of $2.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Fortis will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortis Company Profile

Fortis Inc is a Canadian diversified electric and gas utility holding company headquartered in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. Through a portfolio of regulated utility subsidiaries, the company develops, owns and operates electricity and natural gas transmission, distribution and generation assets. Fortis serves customers across multiple jurisdictions in Canada, the United States and the Caribbean, focusing on the delivery of safe, reliable energy to residential, commercial and industrial users.

The company’s core activities include operation and maintenance of transmission and distribution networks, ownership of generation facilities, and investment in grid modernization and system resilience.