Rhumbline Advisers Lowers Stake in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

Rhumbline Advisers lowered its position in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED - Free Report) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 740,266 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 32,679 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned about 0.21% of Consolidated Edison worth $66,054,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its position in Consolidated Edison by 4.7% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 2,334 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 11,142 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,160,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 5,574 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $580,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. grew its position in Consolidated Edison by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 2,790 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $249,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. Finally, Cooper Financial Group increased its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 2,799 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.29% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price 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. Mizuho upped 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. Barclays decreased their target price on Consolidated Edison from $99.00 to $92.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI cut Consolidated Edison from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Scotiabank raised Consolidated Edison from a "sector underperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Consolidated Edison has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $100.70.

Consolidated Edison Price Performance

NYSE ED traded up $0.51 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $95.77. The company had a trading volume of 2,579,681 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,400,884. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $98.03. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a 52 week low of $85.85 and a 52 week high of $107.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.04, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.39. 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 (NYSE:ED - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 8.70%. Equities research analysts expect that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This is an increase from Consolidated Edison's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Consolidated Edison's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.