Essex LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

Essex LLC lessened its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 18,328 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,081 shares during the period. Essex LLC’s holdings in Consolidated Edison were worth $1,636,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of ED. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Consolidated Edison during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Consolidated Edison in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. CGC Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in Consolidated Edison by 64.0% in the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the period. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Consolidated Edison during the 3rd quarter worth about $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI cut shares of Consolidated Edison from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup upgraded Consolidated Edison from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $103.00 to $116.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on 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 price target 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, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $99.00 to $92.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.00.

Consolidated Edison Stock Performance

ED opened at $96.05 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $33.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $91.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $98.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a 52-week low of $85.85 and a 52-week high of $107.75.

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

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors 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 yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.52%.

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.