Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) Raises Dividend to $0.85 Per Share

Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 16th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of 0.85 per share by the utilities provider on Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a boost from Consolidated Edison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83.

Consolidated Edison has increased its dividend by an average of 2.3% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 51 consecutive years. Consolidated Edison has a payout ratio of 55.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Consolidated Edison to earn $5.62 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.32 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 59.1%.

Consolidated Edison Price Performance

Shares of Consolidated Edison stock opened at $93.74 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $32.47 billion, a PE ratio of 17.65, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $93.44 and a 200 day moving average of $97.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. Consolidated Edison has a 12 month low of $85.85 and a 12 month high of $107.75.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ED shares. Scotiabank raised shares of Consolidated Edison from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $90.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI upgraded Consolidated Edison from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Consolidated Edison in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $108.00 price target for the company. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $104.00 to $99.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Consolidated Edison from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Consolidated Edison has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.64.

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.