S.A. Mason LLC Acquires 204 Shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

S.A. Mason LLC increased its stake in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) by 26.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 962 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. S.A. Mason LLC’s holdings in Consolidated Edison were worth $86,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ED. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Consolidated Edison during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Consolidated Edison during the third quarter worth about $30,000. CGC Financial Services LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new stake in shares of Consolidated Edison in the third quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Institutional investors own 66.29% of the company’s stock.

Consolidated Edison Stock Performance

Consolidated Edison stock opened at $93.90 on Monday. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $85.85 and a fifty-two week high of $107.75. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $92.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $98.11. The stock has a market cap of $32.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.01.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.12. The firm 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This is an increase from Consolidated Edison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on ED. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $99.00 to $92.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Consolidated Edison in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $108.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Consolidated Edison from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank raised Consolidated Edison from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $90.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Consolidated Edison from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.00.

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.