Kovack Advisors Inc. Acquires 2,058 Shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

Kovack Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) by 47.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,381 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,058 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Consolidated Edison were worth $664,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Clean Energy Transition LLP increased its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 227.9% during the second quarter. Clean Energy Transition LLP now owns 897,553 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $80,259,000 after purchasing an additional 623,787 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 10,262.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 553,546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,641,000 after buying an additional 548,204 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Consolidated Edison by 302.3% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 709,172 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $63,396,000 after acquiring an additional 532,893 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Consolidated Edison by 4,020.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 406,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,366,000 after buying an additional 396,985 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 243.2% during the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 497,982 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,564,000 after purchasing an additional 352,903 shares during the last quarter. 66.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ED shares. Citigroup upgraded Consolidated Edison from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $103.00 to $116.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Consolidated Edison from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Consolidated Edison from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $104.00 to $99.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.35.

Consolidated Edison Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ED opened at $95.41 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $103.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.02. 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 company has a market cap of $33.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.36. Consolidated Edison, Inc. 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. The business had revenue of $4.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.02 billion. Consolidated Edison had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 8.70%. Analysts forecast that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Consolidated Edison Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.52%.

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.