Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Here’s Why

Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) shares saw strong trading volume on Friday . 5,839,703 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 708% from the previous session’s volume of 722,727 shares.The stock last traded at $44.02 and had previously closed at $44.28.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Fortis from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 4th. UBS Group upgraded Fortis to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Raymond James cut Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Fortis in a report on Friday, September 20th. They set an “underperform” rating on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce”.

Fortis Stock Down 0.6 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $21.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.53, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.47. The business has a fifty day moving average of $44.42 and a 200 day moving average of $42.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.58.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.26. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.03% and a net margin of 14.06%. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Fortis Inc. will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The company 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 is a positive change from Fortis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.59%. Fortis’s payout ratio is presently 71.85%.

Institutional Trading of Fortis

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTS. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in shares of Fortis by 26.9% during the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 9,071,484 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $352,336,000 after acquiring an additional 1,920,728 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in Fortis by 31.4% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,142,695 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $83,259,000 after purchasing an additional 512,103 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Fortis by 15.7% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,747,036 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $170,230,000 after buying an additional 507,068 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP increased its holdings in Fortis by 413.6% in the third quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP now owns 395,474 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $17,973,000 after buying an additional 318,474 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Fortis by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 12,151,327 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $472,164,000 after purchasing an additional 270,417 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.