Sterling Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) by 53.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,169 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,358 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Consolidated Edison were worth $1,889,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ED shares. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Consolidated Edison from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Consolidated Edison from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $110.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two equities 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Consolidated Edison presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.80.

Consolidated Edison Stock Up 1.4 %

ED stock opened at $109.82 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a 12 month low of $87.28 and a 12 month high of $114.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.56 billion, a PE ratio of 20.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.27. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $103.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $98.91.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $3.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.63 billion. Equities analysts expect that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a $0.85 dividend. This is an increase from Consolidated Edison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. Consolidated Edison’s 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.