Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) Short Interest Update

Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,190,000 shares, an increase of 9.6% from the March 31st total of 5,650,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,890,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.3 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ED. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $99.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on shares of Consolidated Edison in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $92.50 target price for the company. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $94.00 to $93.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $87.54.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ED. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in Consolidated Edison by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $246,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,557 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $219,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 9,105 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $779,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison during the 3rd quarter worth $203,000. Finally, Busey Trust CO increased its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Busey Trust CO now owns 90,234 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,434 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.29% of the company’s stock.

Consolidated Edison Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:ED opened at $94.78 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a market cap of $32.75 billion, a PE ratio of 13.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 0.35. Consolidated Edison has a 52 week low of $80.46 and a 52 week high of $100.44. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $90.04.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.70 billion. Consolidated Edison had a net margin of 17.19% and a return on equity of 8.41%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.81 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Consolidated Edison will post 5.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Consolidated Edison Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.24%.

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.