Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the thirteen research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have assigned a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $100.00.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ED shares. Evercore ISI cut Consolidated Edison from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Citigroup upgraded Consolidated Edison from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $103.00 to $116.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $99.00 to $92.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th.

Consolidated Edison Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ED opened at $96.05 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $92.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $98.12. Consolidated Edison has a 52 week low of $85.85 and a 52 week high of $107.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.09, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.39.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.12. Consolidated Edison had a return on equity of 8.70% and a net margin of 12.27%. The company had revenue of $4.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.02 billion. On average, analysts expect that Consolidated Edison will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. This is an increase from Consolidated Edison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.52%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ED. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Consolidated Edison during the third quarter worth $30,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Consolidated Edison in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. 66.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.