Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume

Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Monday . 1,547,723 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 109% from the previous session’s volume of 738,923 shares.The stock last traded at $44.12 and had previously closed at $43.77.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Fortis from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 4th.

Fortis Trading Up 0.6 %

The company has a market cap of $21.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.45. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $40.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.52.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 20th will be issued a $0.431 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 20th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.91%. Fortis’s payout ratio is 73.28%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortis

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FTS. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new stake in Fortis in the fourth quarter valued at $254,000. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in Fortis by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 260,133 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,699,000 after acquiring an additional 11,724 shares during the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Fortis by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 91,907 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,780,000 after acquiring an additional 1,179 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in Fortis by 111.2% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,598 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $107,000 after acquiring an additional 1,368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cumberland Partners Ltd boosted its stake in Fortis by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 29,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,220,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.