Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Short Interest Down 37.0% in May

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of May. As of May 29th, there was short interest totaling 10,780,946 shares, a decrease of 37.0% from the May 14th total of 17,111,074 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 721,283 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 14.9 days. Currently, 2.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Fortis Stock Performance

Fortis stock opened at $56.90 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $56.27 and its 200-day moving average is $54.76. The company has a market cap of $28.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.13 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.41. Fortis has a 12 month low of $46.46 and a 12 month high of $58.78.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.56 billion. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.25% and a net margin of 14.21%.During the same period last year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Fortis will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on FTS shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Fortis from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fortis presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortis

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. West Family Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fortis by 4.3% in the third quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 5,443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $276,000 after buying an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Compound Planning Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fortis by 6.6% in the third quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 4,536 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $230,000 after buying an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fortis by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,990 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $311,000 after buying an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Addison Capital Co grew its stake in shares of Fortis by 0.9% in the first quarter. Addison Capital Co now owns 32,797 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,830,000 after buying an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of Fortis by 1.7% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 18,370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $932,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Fortis

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.