Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) was the target of a large growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 14,910,000 shares, a growth of 7.3% from the December 15th total of 13,890,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,170,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.9 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ED has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup upgraded shares of Consolidated Edison from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $103.00 to $116.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated 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. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Consolidated Edison from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $104.00 to $99.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Consolidated Edison has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.64.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Consolidated Edison

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 13.0% in the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 868 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 4.7% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 2,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its stake in Consolidated Edison by 1.1% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 11,142 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,160,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in Consolidated Edison by 2.4% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 5,574 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $580,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management lifted its stake in Consolidated Edison by 0.6% during the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 24,173 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,517,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.29% of the company’s stock.

Consolidated Edison Stock Performance

Shares of Consolidated Edison stock opened at $93.74 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $32.47 billion, a PE ratio of 17.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $93.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $97.97. 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 has a 1 year low of $85.85 and a 1 year high of $107.75.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last announced 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 8.70%. The business had revenue of $4.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.02 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Consolidated Edison will post 5.35 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This is an increase from Consolidated Edison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.52%.

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.