Fortis (NYSE:FTS) Sets New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $47.94 and last traded at $47.53, with a volume of 82423 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.16.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Fortis in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Fortis Stock Down 2.3 %

The firm’s fifty day moving average is $44.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.77. The firm has a market cap of $23.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.63.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. Fortis had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 7.09%. The company had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.72 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Fortis Inc. will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.4324 dividend. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.03%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Fortis by 724.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 577 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Fortis during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Fortis by 34.1% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,006 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new position in shares of Fortis in the third quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Fortis by 38.5% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,726 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $113,000 after acquiring an additional 758 shares during the last quarter. 57.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Fortis

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.