Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) Short Interest Down 5.8% in March

Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) was the target of a large drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,650,000 shares, a drop of 5.8% from the March 15th total of 6,000,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,750,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Consolidated Edison Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ED traded down $1.90 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $87.42. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,098,153 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,562,727. Consolidated Edison has a one year low of $80.46 and a one year high of $100.92. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $88.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $89.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a market cap of $30.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.42 and a beta of 0.35.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $3.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.81 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Consolidated Edison will post 5.3 EPS for the current year.

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 13th. This is an increase from Consolidated Edison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.80%. Consolidated Edison’s payout ratio is presently 46.24%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ED. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Consolidated Edison by 2.0% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,949,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $761,387,000 after acquiring an additional 154,945 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Consolidated Edison by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,352,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $577,917,000 after acquiring an additional 151,811 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Consolidated Edison by 8.2% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,484,026 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $383,519,000 after acquiring an additional 340,239 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Consolidated Edison by 1.8% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,221,543 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $361,069,000 after acquiring an additional 72,915 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Consolidated Edison by 89,231.2% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,145,861 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $395,142,000 after acquiring an additional 4,141,220 shares in the last quarter. 66.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ED shares. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $99.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “sector underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on shares of Consolidated Edison in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $92.50 price target on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of Consolidated Edison from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $87.96.

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.