Wedbush Securities Inc. Increases Stock Position in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) by 70.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,931 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,871 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Consolidated Edison were worth $618,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in Consolidated Edison in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich purchased a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison during the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors own 66.29% of the company’s stock.

Consolidated Edison Price Performance

Shares of ED stock opened at $105.35 on Tuesday. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $87.28 and a fifty-two week high of $114.87. The firm has a market cap of $37.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.27. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $101.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $98.72.

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

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. This is a boost from Consolidated Edison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. Consolidated Edison’s payout ratio is presently 64.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Evercore ISI cut shares of Consolidated Edison from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Consolidated Edison from $110.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Consolidated Edison presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.40.

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.