KBC Group NV Buys 4,588 Shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) by 11.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 46,095 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,588 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Consolidated Edison were worth $4,113,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 399,034 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,853,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $919,041,000 after buying an additional 107,281 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $223,741,000 after buying an additional 28,254 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Consolidated Edison by 4.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew 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 valued at $132,081,000 after acquiring an additional 572,530 shares during the last quarter. 66.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Consolidated Edison Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of Consolidated Edison stock opened at $93.93 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $85.85 and a 12-month high of $107.75. The company has a market cap of $32.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.69, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $92.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $98.06.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $4.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.02 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.35 EPS for the current year.

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. This is a positive change from Consolidated Edison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ED. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Consolidated Edison in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $108.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank raised Consolidated Edison from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI lowered Consolidated Edison from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup upgraded Consolidated Edison from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $103.00 to $116.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Consolidated Edison from $99.00 to $92.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.00.

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.