Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have assigned a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $100.00.

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Consolidated Edison from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank raised Consolidated Edison from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $90.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Consolidated Edison from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $103.00 to $116.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $99.00 to $92.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered shares of Consolidated Edison from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st.

Consolidated Edison Trading Up 0.0 %

ED opened at $93.90 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $92.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $98.11. Consolidated Edison has a one year low of $85.85 and a one year high of $107.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a market cap of $32.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.68, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.38.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.12. Consolidated Edison had a return on equity of 8.70% and a net margin of 12.27%. The business had revenue of $4.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.02 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Consolidated Edison will post 5.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This is an increase from Consolidated Edison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio is 62.52%.

Institutional Trading of Consolidated Edison

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in Consolidated Edison by 1.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,429,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,439,684,000 after buying an additional 399,034 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,853,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $919,041,000 after purchasing an additional 107,281 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Consolidated Edison by 1.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,148,666 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $223,741,000 after buying an additional 28,254 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 4.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,145,128 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $223,373,000 after purchasing an additional 82,985 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 82.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,268,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $132,081,000 after purchasing an additional 572,530 shares during the last quarter. 66.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Consolidated Edison Company Profile

Consolidated Edison, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the regulated electric, gas, and steam delivery businesses in the United States. It offers electric services to approximately 3.7 million customers in New York City and Westchester County; gas to approximately 1.1 million customers in Manhattan, the Bronx, parts of Queens, and Westchester County; and steam to approximately 1,530 customers in parts of Manhattan.