Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) Receives $100.00 Consensus PT from Brokerages

Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the thirteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $100.00.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ED. Evercore ISI cut Consolidated Edison from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Consolidated Edison in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $108.00 price target for the company. Mizuho raised 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. Scotiabank upgraded Consolidated Edison from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Consolidated Edison from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $103.00 to $116.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th.

Consolidated Edison Price Performance

Consolidated Edison stock opened at $96.19 on Monday. Consolidated Edison has a 12 month low of $85.85 and a 12 month high of $107.75. The company has a market capitalization of $33.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.12, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.39. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $92.28 and its 200-day moving average is $98.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.68 EPS 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 company had revenue of $4.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.02 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Consolidated Edison will post 5.35 EPS for the current year.

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.53%. This is a positive change from Consolidated Edison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.03%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Consolidated Edison in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in Consolidated Edison in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Consolidated Edison in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Consolidated Edison in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, CGC Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 64.0% in the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the period. 66.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.