Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 83,465 Shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

Franklin Resources Inc. reduced its position in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) by 27.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 218,766 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 83,465 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Consolidated Edison were worth $19,520,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Consolidated Edison in the 4th quarter valued at about $399,824,000. Burkehill Global Management LP bought a new position in Consolidated Edison in the fourth quarter worth approximately $53,538,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,455,662 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,788,319,000 after buying an additional 488,752 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in Consolidated Edison by 350.6% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 620,705 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,634,000 after acquiring an additional 482,953 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison in the 4th quarter valued at $42,916,000. 66.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ED has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Consolidated Edison from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $110.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Evercore ISI cut shares of Consolidated Edison from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Scotiabank lifted 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, February 24th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Two 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Consolidated Edison has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.40.

Consolidated Edison Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE:ED opened at $109.53 on Monday. 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 $87.28 and a 52-week high of $114.87. The stock has a market cap of $39.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.90, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.27. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $101.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $98.70.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.63 billion. Consolidated Edison had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 8.62%. Equities analysts predict that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.62 EPS for the current year.

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. This is a positive change from Consolidated Edison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.89%.

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.