National Pension Service Sells 37,235 Shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

National Pension Service cut its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 431,337 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 37,235 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.12% of Consolidated Edison worth $38,488,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Consolidated Edison in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in Consolidated Edison in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Consolidated Edison in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Consolidated Edison in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, CGC Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in Consolidated Edison by 64.0% in the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. 66.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ED has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho upped their price target on Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Consolidated Edison from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on Consolidated Edison from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on Consolidated Edison from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.50.

Consolidated Edison Stock Performance

NYSE:ED opened at $101.45 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $93.13 and its 200 day moving average is $97.98. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $85.85 and a fifty-two week high of $107.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.17 billion, a PE ratio of 19.36, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. Consolidated Edison had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 11.93%. The company had revenue of $3.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.63 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a positive change from Consolidated Edison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.89%.

Consolidated Edison 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.