Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) Receives $87.75 Average Target Price from Analysts

Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) has received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the twelve brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have given a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $87.75.

Several research firms have weighed in on ED. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Consolidated Edison from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped 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 report on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Consolidated Edison from $99.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Consolidated Edison from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th.

Consolidated Edison Price Performance

Shares of Consolidated Edison stock opened at $96.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.92. Consolidated Edison has a one year low of $80.46 and a one year high of $100.32. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $90.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $90.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.99 and a beta of 0.34.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.40 billion. Consolidated Edison had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 8.79%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.83 EPS. Analysts forecast that Consolidated Edison will post 5.31 EPS for the current year.

Consolidated Edison Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.45%. Consolidated Edison’s payout ratio is 63.72%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ED. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Consolidated Edison by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,201,026 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $530,373,000 after buying an additional 27,850 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Consolidated Edison by 8.2% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,484,026 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $383,519,000 after acquiring an additional 340,239 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 1.8% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,221,543 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $361,069,000 after acquiring an additional 72,915 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 4.5% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,976,921 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $254,616,000 after acquiring an additional 129,519 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Consolidated Edison during the 4th quarter valued at about $243,511,000. 66.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.