Martingale Asset Management L P Raises Stake in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

Martingale Asset Management L P boosted its holdings in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) by 32.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 200,266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 49,364 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P’s holdings in Consolidated Edison were worth $17,870,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,455,662 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,788,319,000 after buying an additional 488,752 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,984,022 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $799,684,000 after acquiring an additional 130,234 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Consolidated Edison in the fourth quarter worth $399,824,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 27.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,721,730 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $332,090,000 after acquiring an additional 812,885 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,225,989 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $198,625,000 after purchasing an additional 77,323 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.29% of the company’s stock.

Consolidated Edison Stock Up 0.5 %

Consolidated Edison stock opened at $105.93 on Wednesday. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a one year low of $87.28 and a one year high of $114.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $102.16 and a 200 day moving average of $98.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market cap of $38.15 billion, a PE ratio of 20.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.27.

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

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. This is a boost from Consolidated Edison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.89%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $110.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Consolidated Edison from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays lifted 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. Finally, Evercore ISI downgraded 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 issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.40.

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.