R Squared Ltd Acquires Shares of 10,800 Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 10,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $964,000. Consolidated Edison accounts for about 0.9% of R Squared Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of ED. State Street Corp grew its position in Consolidated Edison by 1.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,429,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,439,684,000 after buying an additional 399,034 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,853,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $919,041,000 after acquiring an additional 107,281 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Consolidated Edison by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,148,666 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $223,741,000 after purchasing an additional 28,254 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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 purchasing an additional 82,985 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in Consolidated Edison by 82.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,268,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $132,081,000 after purchasing an additional 572,530 shares in the last quarter. 66.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Consolidated Edison from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Consolidated Edison from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $99.00 to $92.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Consolidated Edison in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $108.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Consolidated Edison from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $103.00 to $116.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Consolidated Edison currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.00.

Consolidated Edison Stock Performance

NYSE ED opened at $93.56 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The company has a market capitalization of $32.41 billion, a PE ratio of 17.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.38. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $92.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $98.09. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a twelve month low of $85.85 and a twelve month 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, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.02 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.63%. This is an increase from Consolidated Edison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.