Renaissance Technologies LLC Lowers Position in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

Renaissance Technologies LLC reduced its stake in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 411,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 45,100 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Consolidated Edison were worth $36,752,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,126,595 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $102,484,000 after acquiring an additional 6,176 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 19,019 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,730,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Consolidated Edison in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $243,511,000. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in Consolidated Edison by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 488,483 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,437,000 after purchasing an additional 62,519 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 281,514 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,609,000 after acquiring an additional 27,242 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ED. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Bank of America increased their price target on Consolidated Edison from $97.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Argus raised shares of Consolidated Edison to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Consolidated Edison has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.65.

Consolidated Edison Price Performance

Shares of ED opened at $103.41 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a 1-year low of $80.46 and a 1-year high of $105.99. The stock has a market cap of $35.76 billion, a PE ratio of 19.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $99.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $94.46.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. Consolidated Edison had a return on equity of 8.67% and a net margin of 12.03%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.61 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.31 EPS for the current year.

Consolidated Edison Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th were issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 14th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Consolidated Edison’s payout ratio is 63.72%.

Consolidated Edison 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.