ING Groep NV Invests $725,000 in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

ING Groep NV purchased a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 8,130 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $725,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its position in Consolidated Edison by 4.7% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 2,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its position in Consolidated Edison by 1.1% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 11,142 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,160,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its position in Consolidated Edison by 2.4% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 5,574 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $580,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc. raised its position in Consolidated Edison by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 2,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund raised its position in Consolidated Edison by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 10,372 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $925,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.29% of the company’s stock.

Consolidated Edison Stock Performance

NYSE:ED opened at $99.66 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.52 billion, a PE ratio of 19.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.39. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $92.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $97.95. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $85.85 and a 12 month high of $107.75.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. Consolidated Edison had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 8.62%. The company had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.63 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This is an increase from Consolidated Edison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ED. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Consolidated Edison from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Evercore ISI lowered Consolidated Edison from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Consolidated Edison from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho upped their price objective on Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.10.

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.