WASHINGTON TRUST Co Grows Stock Position in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its stake in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) by 13.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,818 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,255 shares during the quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Consolidated Edison were worth $965,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 1.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,429,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,439,684,000 after purchasing an additional 399,034 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 1.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,853,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $919,041,000 after purchasing an additional 107,281 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 1.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,148,666 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $223,741,000 after purchasing an additional 28,254 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 4.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,145,128 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $223,373,000 after purchasing an additional 82,985 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 82.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,268,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $132,081,000 after purchasing an additional 572,530 shares in the last quarter. 66.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ED shares. Evercore ISI cut Consolidated Edison from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Scotiabank raised Consolidated Edison from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Consolidated Edison from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays dropped their price objective on Consolidated Edison from $99.00 to $92.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.00.

Consolidated Edison Price Performance

ED opened at $95.01 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $91.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $98.13. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a 12-month low of $85.85 and a 12-month high of $107.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.89, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.39.

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a boost from Consolidated Edison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.52%.

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.