United Community Bank Lowers Position in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

United Community Bank cut its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) by 96.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 17,709 shares during the period. United Community Bank’s holdings in Consolidated Edison were worth $54,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ED. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 1.7% in 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 grew its position in Consolidated Edison by 1.2% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,225,989 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $198,625,000 after buying an additional 77,323 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,221,729 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $197,795,000 after buying an additional 242,243 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 4.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,145,128 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $223,373,000 after buying an additional 82,985 shares during the period. 66.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ED. Mizuho increased their price objective on Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Consolidated Edison from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays upped their target price on Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Consolidated Edison from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered Consolidated Edison from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.50.

Consolidated Edison Stock Performance

Shares of ED opened at $103.73 on Monday. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a 12 month low of $87.16 and a 12 month high of $107.75. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $94.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $98.01. 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 firm has a market cap of $35.97 billion, a PE ratio of 19.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.30.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.63 billion. Consolidated Edison had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 11.93%. Equities research analysts predict that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. This is a positive change from Consolidated Edison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.89%.

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.