Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) Downgraded by Evercore ISI to “Hold”

Evercore ISI lowered shares of Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

ED has been the topic of several other reports. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Consolidated Edison in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $108.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank upgraded Consolidated Edison from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $90.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Consolidated Edison from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $103.00 to $116.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Consolidated Edison from $104.00 to $99.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.64.

Consolidated Edison Stock Down 0.0 %

ED stock opened at $90.75 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $31.44 billion, a PE ratio of 17.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.38. Consolidated Edison has a 12 month low of $85.85 and a 12 month high of $107.75. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $93.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.98.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.12. Consolidated Edison had a return on equity of 8.70% and a net margin of 12.27%. The business had revenue of $4.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.02 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Consolidated Edison will post 5.35 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. 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 yield of 3.75%. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.52%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Consolidated Edison

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Consolidated Edison during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $776,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its position in Consolidated Edison by 10,302.6% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 24,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,546,000 after acquiring an additional 24,211 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Consolidated Edison by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,145,128 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $223,373,000 after purchasing an additional 82,985 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 143,136 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,772,000 after purchasing an additional 3,900 shares during the period. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its position in Consolidated Edison by 102.7% in the 4th quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 430,279 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,394,000 after purchasing an additional 217,981 shares during the last quarter. 66.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Consolidated Edison Company 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.