Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) Short Interest Update

Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 14,910,000 shares, a growth of 7.3% from the December 31st total of 13,890,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,170,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.9 days.

Consolidated Edison Stock Down 1.1 %

NYSE ED traded down $1.01 on Tuesday, reaching $94.61. The company had a trading volume of 224,161 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,406,938. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Consolidated Edison has a 1 year low of $85.85 and a 1 year high of $107.75. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $92.49 and a 200-day moving average of $98.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.78 billion, a PE ratio of 17.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. This is an increase from Consolidated Edison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on ED. Evercore ISI downgraded Consolidated Edison from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Scotiabank upgraded Consolidated Edison from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $90.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $99.00 to $92.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Consolidated Edison from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $103.00 to $116.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Consolidated Edison in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $108.00 price target on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Consolidated Edison currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.00.

Institutional Trading of Consolidated Edison

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ED. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 1,766.0% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 988,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $102,980,000 after buying an additional 935,962 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Consolidated Edison by 82.3% during 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. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 10,262.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 553,546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,641,000 after purchasing an additional 548,204 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Consolidated Edison by 350.6% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 620,705 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,634,000 after purchasing an additional 482,953 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 1.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,429,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,439,684,000 after purchasing an additional 399,034 shares during the period. 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.