Oak Thistle LLC Takes Position in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 5,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $511,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ED. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,429,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,439,684,000 after purchasing an additional 399,034 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 1.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,853,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $919,041,000 after purchasing an additional 107,281 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Consolidated Edison by 1.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,148,666 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $223,741,000 after buying an additional 28,254 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 4.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,145,128 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $223,373,000 after buying an additional 82,985 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,502,523 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $134,323,000 after buying an additional 11,785 shares during the period. 66.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Consolidated Edison Price Performance

NYSE:ED opened at $92.17 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.93 billion, a PE ratio of 17.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.38. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a 1-year low of $85.85 and a 1-year high of $107.75. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $93.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $4.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.02 billion. Consolidated Edison had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 8.70%. On average, research analysts expect that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.35 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. This is a positive change from Consolidated Edison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.69%. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ED shares. 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 target for the company. 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 research report on Friday, November 22nd. Citigroup upgraded Consolidated Edison from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $103.00 to $116.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank upgraded Consolidated Edison from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $90.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Consolidated Edison from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Consolidated Edison presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.64.

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.