Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the fifteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have assigned a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $99.96.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ED shares. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Consolidated Edison in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $108.00 price objective for the company. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $104.00 to $99.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Consolidated Edison from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $103.00 to $116.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Consolidated Edison from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Consolidated Edison from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Consolidated Edison

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 399,034 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,853,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $919,041,000 after purchasing an additional 107,281 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,148,666 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $223,741,000 after purchasing an additional 28,254 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in Consolidated Edison by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,502,523 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $134,323,000 after purchasing an additional 11,785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 11.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,273,115 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $113,845,000 after buying an additional 125,859 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 66.29% of the company’s stock.

Consolidated Edison Stock Performance

Shares of ED stock opened at $90.03 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 $31.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.36. Consolidated Edison has a 52 week low of $85.85 and a 52 week high of $107.75. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $98.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $98.06.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.12. Consolidated Edison had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 8.70%. The company had revenue of $4.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.02 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Consolidated Edison will post 5.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Consolidated Edison Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. Consolidated Edison’s payout ratio is presently 62.52%.

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.