Sciencast Management LP Buys 7,844 Shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

Sciencast Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) by 35.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,844 shares during the period. Sciencast Management LP’s holdings in Consolidated Edison were worth $2,697,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Consolidated Edison in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Consolidated Edison during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich purchased a new position in Consolidated Edison in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Consolidated Edison from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays boosted their target price on Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Consolidated Edison from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $110.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.40.

Consolidated Edison Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of ED stock opened at $107.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The company has a market cap of $37.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.58, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.30. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a 1 year low of $87.16 and a 1 year high of $109.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $97.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $98.44.

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

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were given a $0.85 dividend. This is a positive change from Consolidated Edison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. 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.