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

Shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $102.40.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Consolidated Edison from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI cut shares of Consolidated Edison from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Consolidated Edison from $110.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday.

Consolidated Edison Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE ED opened at $106.87 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $98.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $98.38. Consolidated Edison has a 52-week low of $87.16 and a 52-week high of $109.36. 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 $37.06 billion, a PE ratio of 20.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.30.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. Consolidated Edison had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 11.93%. The business had revenue of $3.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.63 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Consolidated Edison will post 5.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. 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 dividend yield of 3.18%. Consolidated Edison’s payout ratio is 64.89%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Consolidated Edison

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ED. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison in the third quarter valued at about $776,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Consolidated Edison by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,145,128 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $223,373,000 after purchasing an additional 82,985 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 143,136 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,772,000 after purchasing an additional 3,900 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Consolidated Edison by 102.7% in the 4th quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 430,279 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,394,000 after purchasing an additional 217,981 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 81.4% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 9,921 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $885,000 after buying an additional 4,451 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.29% of the company’s stock.

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.