Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) Given New $97.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) had its price target lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $93.00 to $97.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on ED. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $94.00 to $93.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. KeyCorp raised shares of Consolidated Edison from an underweight rating to a sector weight rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a sector underperform rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Consolidated Edison from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Consolidated Edison from $99.00 to $94.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $87.75.

Consolidated Edison Price Performance

Shares of ED opened at $96.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.99. Consolidated Edison has a fifty-two week low of $80.46 and a fifty-two week high of $100.32. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $90.21. The company has a market capitalization of $33.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.99 and a beta of 0.34.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.26. Consolidated Edison had a return on equity of 8.79% and a net margin of 12.43%. The firm had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.83 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Consolidated Edison will post 5.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Consolidated Edison Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.72%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Consolidated Edison

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ED. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 30.7% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 85,923 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,803,000 after purchasing an additional 20,172 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 21.7% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,770 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,250,000 after acquiring an additional 2,458 shares during the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Consolidated Edison in the first quarter valued at $1,184,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison by 14.6% during the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 15,747 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,430,000 after acquiring an additional 2,005 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in Consolidated Edison by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 12,590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,143,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. 66.29% of the stock is currently 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.