Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) Stock Rating Upgraded by Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also commented on ED. Citigroup raised Consolidated Edison from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $103.00 to $116.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Consolidated Edison from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Consolidated Edison in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $108.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.35.

Consolidated Edison Price Performance

ED opened at $98.48 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $103.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $97.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.36. Consolidated Edison has a 52-week low of $85.85 and a 52-week high of $107.75.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.12. Consolidated Edison had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 8.75%. The company had revenue of $4.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.02 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Consolidated Edison will post 5.33 EPS for the current year.

Consolidated Edison Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.52%.

Institutional Trading of Consolidated Edison

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ED. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 15,747 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,430,000 after acquiring an additional 2,005 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 21.7% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,770 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,250,000 after purchasing an additional 2,458 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Consolidated Edison in the first quarter worth about $322,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Consolidated Edison by 57.4% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 244,404 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $22,193,000 after buying an additional 89,080 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Consolidated Edison during the first quarter valued at approximately $181,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.29% of the company’s stock.

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.