ING Groep NV Invests $725,000 in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

ING Groep NV bought a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 8,130 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $725,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ED. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Consolidated Edison during the third quarter worth about $27,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Consolidated Edison during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Consolidated Edison during the third quarter worth about $30,000. CGC Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 64.0% during the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Consolidated Edison during the third quarter worth about $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ED has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday. Evercore ISI cut shares of Consolidated Edison from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.10.

Consolidated Edison Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of ED opened at $99.66 on Tuesday. 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 has a 50 day simple moving average of $92.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.95. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a 1-year low of $85.85 and a 1-year high of $107.75. The stock has a market cap of $34.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.39.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.63 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. This is a boost from Consolidated Edison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.89%.

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.