Cooper Financial Group Grows Stake in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

Cooper Financial Group lifted its position in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,799 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Cooper Financial Group’s holdings in Consolidated Edison were worth $250,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ED. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,429,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,439,684,000 after acquiring an additional 399,034 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased 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 worth $919,041,000 after purchasing an additional 107,281 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in 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. lifted its position in Consolidated Edison by 4.0% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in Consolidated Edison by 0.8% during the second 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.29% of the company’s stock.

Consolidated Edison Stock Performance

NYSE:ED opened at $89.28 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.01. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $85.85 and a fifty-two week high of $107.75. The firm has a market cap of $30.93 billion, a PE ratio of 16.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $93.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.90.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.12. Consolidated Edison had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 8.70%. The business had revenue of $4.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.02 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Consolidated Edison Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.72%. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ED shares. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Consolidated Edison from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Consolidated Edison from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group started 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. Citigroup raised Consolidated Edison from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $103.00 to $116.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Consolidated Edison from $104.00 to $99.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Consolidated Edison presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.64.

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.