Financial Advocates Investment Management Purchases 208 Shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

Financial Advocates Investment Management increased its holdings in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,101 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the period. Financial Advocates Investment Management’s holdings in Consolidated Edison were worth $277,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ED. Perpetual Ltd bought a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison during the third quarter valued at about $229,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its position in Consolidated Edison by 425.8% in the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 4,075 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $424,000 after buying an additional 3,300 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Consolidated Edison in the 3rd quarter worth about $211,000. HCR Wealth Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Consolidated Edison during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $228,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 36.2% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 9,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,037,000 after buying an additional 2,646 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 66.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on ED. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Consolidated Edison from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank upgraded Consolidated Edison from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI cut Consolidated Edison from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Mizuho raised 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. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Consolidated Edison from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $103.00 to $116.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.00.

Consolidated Edison Price Performance

Shares of Consolidated Edison stock opened at $96.05 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a one year low of $85.85 and a one year high of $107.75. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $91.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $98.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.39.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $4.02 billion. Analysts forecast that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.35 EPS for the current year.

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a boost from Consolidated Edison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.54%. Consolidated Edison’s payout ratio is 64.03%.

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.