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

Shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the twelve analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven 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 target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $102.80.

ED has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Consolidated Edison from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Consolidated Edison from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd.

Consolidated Edison Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ED opened at $111.94 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $40.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.27. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $104.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $99.24. Consolidated Edison has a fifty-two week low of $87.28 and a fifty-two week high of $114.87.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.63 billion. Consolidated Edison had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 11.93%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Consolidated Edison will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Consolidated Edison Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.04%. Consolidated Edison’s payout ratio is 64.89%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Consolidated Edison

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ED. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Consolidated Edison during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $776,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison by 4.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,145,128 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $223,373,000 after buying an additional 82,985 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Consolidated Edison by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 143,136 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,772,000 after acquiring an additional 3,900 shares during the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its stake in Consolidated Edison by 102.7% during the 4th quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 430,279 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,394,000 after acquiring an additional 217,981 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 4,451 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.