LRI Investments LLC Makes New $80,000 Investment in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 821 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $80,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Consolidated Edison during the fourth quarter worth about $243,511,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 9,063.6% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 519,028 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,216,000 after acquiring an additional 513,364 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its position in Consolidated Edison by 408.8% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 396,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,101,000 after acquiring an additional 318,858 shares during the period. Clean Energy Transition LLP acquired a new stake in Consolidated Edison during the first quarter worth $24,861,000. Finally, Pinebridge Investments L.P. raised its position in Consolidated Edison by 56.1% in the fourth quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 702,721 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $63,927,000 after purchasing an additional 252,617 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.29% of the company’s stock.

Consolidated Edison Price Performance

Shares of ED stock traded up $0.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $96.44. The stock had a trading volume of 1,438,755 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,490,286. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a 12-month low of $80.46 and a 12-month high of $98.55. The company has a market cap of $33.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $92.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.19.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.26. Consolidated Edison had a return on equity of 8.79% and a net margin of 12.43%. The company had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.83 earnings per share. Consolidated Edison’s revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Consolidated Edison Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 14th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ED has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Barclays lowered shares of Consolidated Edison from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $97.00 to $92.00 in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Consolidated Edison from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Consolidated Edison presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.04.

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.