Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) Short Interest Up 97.9% in December

Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 13,890,000 shares, an increase of 97.9% from the November 30th total of 7,020,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,090,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.6 days.

Institutional Trading of Consolidated Edison

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 4.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,145,128 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $223,373,000 after purchasing an additional 82,985 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Consolidated Edison by 5.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 477,722 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $49,745,000 after buying an additional 23,024 shares during the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 6.0% during the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 25,606 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,667,000 after acquiring an additional 1,441 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 6.2% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 17,804 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,854,000 after acquiring an additional 1,033 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 6,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $670,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the period. 66.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on ED shares. Evercore ISI raised shares of Consolidated Edison from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Barclays dropped their target price on Consolidated Edison from $104.00 to $99.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group increased their target price on Consolidated Edison from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Consolidated Edison in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $108.00 price target for the company. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of Consolidated Edison from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Consolidated Edison has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.96.

Consolidated Edison Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ED traded down $0.03 during trading on Friday, hitting $89.56. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,319,594 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,913,096. The company has a market capitalization of $31.02 billion, a PE ratio of 16.87, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.36. Consolidated Edison has a fifty-two week low of $85.85 and a fifty-two week high of $107.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $97.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $97.98.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $4.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.02 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Consolidated Edison will post 5.34 EPS for the current year.

Consolidated Edison Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th were paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.52%.

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.