Diamant Asset Management Inc. Reduces Position in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

Diamant Asset Management Inc. trimmed its position in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,775 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 150 shares during the quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Consolidated Edison were worth $515,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 31,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,806,000 after buying an additional 1,489 shares during the last quarter. AXA S.A. lifted its stake in Consolidated Edison by 1.3% during the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 37,282 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,334,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC acquired a new position in Consolidated Edison in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,092,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Consolidated Edison by 8.4% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 241,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $21,560,000 after purchasing an additional 18,776 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in Consolidated Edison during the second quarter worth approximately $715,000. 66.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on ED shares. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $99.00 to $92.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Consolidated Edison in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $108.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank raised Consolidated Edison from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $90.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI cut shares of Consolidated Edison from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Consolidated Edison from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $103.00 to $116.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Consolidated Edison has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.00.

Consolidated Edison Trading Up 4.7 %

Shares of ED opened at $94.87 on Tuesday. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a 1-year low of $85.85 and a 1-year high of $107.75. 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 50 day simple moving average of $92.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.07. The stock has a market cap of $32.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.38.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $4.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.02 billion. Consolidated Edison had a return on equity of 8.70% and a net margin of 12.27%. Equities analysts forecast that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This is an increase 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 3.58%. Consolidated Edison’s payout ratio is 62.52%.

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.