HighTower Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 141,412 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,416 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Consolidated Edison were worth $12,618,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison by 1,766.0% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 988,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $102,980,000 after purchasing an additional 935,962 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison by 82.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,268,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $132,081,000 after purchasing an additional 572,530 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison by 350.6% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 620,705 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,634,000 after purchasing an additional 482,953 shares during the period. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC purchased a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison in the fourth quarter valued at $37,147,000. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison by 1.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,429,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,439,684,000 after purchasing an additional 399,034 shares during the period. 66.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Consolidated Edison Stock Up 1.9 %

ED opened at $106.60 on Monday. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $87.16 and a fifty-two week high of $107.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $95.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $98.17. The company has a market capitalization of $36.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.30.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. Consolidated Edison had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 8.62%. The firm had revenue of $3.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.63 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.62 EPS for the current year.

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. This is an increase from Consolidated Edison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Consolidated Edison’s payout ratio is currently 64.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ED has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut shares of Consolidated Edison from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.50.

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.