Norges Bank Invests $399.82 Million in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 4,480,828 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $399,824,000. Norges Bank owned 1.29% of Consolidated Edison as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Consolidated Edison during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Consolidated Edison in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich purchased a new stake in shares of Consolidated Edison in the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. 66.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Consolidated Edison from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Consolidated Edison from $110.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Barclays increased their price target on Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Consolidated Edison from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.40.

Consolidated Edison Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:ED opened at $108.81 on Friday. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.28 and a 52 week high of $109.44. 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 $37.73 billion, a PE ratio of 20.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.30. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $99.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $98.51.

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

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.12%. This is a boost from Consolidated Edison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.89%.

About Consolidated Edison

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.