Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the twelve analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $87.96.

ED has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Consolidated Edison from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH began coverage on shares of Consolidated Edison in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $92.50 target price for the company. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $99.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “sector underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th.

Consolidated Edison Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of ED stock opened at $89.32 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $30.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.36 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Consolidated Edison has a fifty-two week low of $80.46 and a fifty-two week high of $100.92. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $88.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $89.52.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.02. Consolidated Edison had a net margin of 17.19% and a return on equity of 8.41%. The business had revenue of $3.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.81 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Consolidated Edison will post 5.3 EPS for the current year.

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is an increase from Consolidated Edison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 13th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.72%. Consolidated Edison’s payout ratio is 46.24%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Consolidated Edison

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Roundview Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Consolidated Edison in the first quarter worth about $680,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 22.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,030,616 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $97,579,000 after purchasing an additional 190,138 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 54.4% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 18,204 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,693,000 after purchasing an additional 6,412 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 1.3% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 19,489 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,845,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Consolidated Edison in the first quarter worth about $214,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.29% of the company’s stock.

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.