Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Increases Position in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) by 99.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 289,350 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 144,062 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Consolidated Edison were worth $30,130,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Consolidated Edison during the first quarter valued at $287,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 5.5% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 7,204 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $654,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the period. Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 2,307.7% in the first quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 313 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd raised its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 17,683.9% in the first quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 9,959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $904,000 after acquiring an additional 9,903 shares during the period. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 67.4% in the first quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 7,858 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $714,000 after acquiring an additional 3,164 shares during the period. 66.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Consolidated Edison Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE ED opened at $101.58 on Thursday. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a 12-month low of $85.85 and a 12-month high of $107.75. The stock has a market cap of $35.19 billion, a PE ratio of 19.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The company has a 50-day moving average of $101.81 and a 200 day moving average of $98.15.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.68 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $4.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.02 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Consolidated Edison Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ED. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $104.00 to $99.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Consolidated Edison from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Consolidated Edison from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $103.00 to $116.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Consolidated Edison currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.19.

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.