Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Raises Stake in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED - Free Report) by 7.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 46,070 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,213 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.'s holdings in Consolidated Edison were worth $4,111,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Consolidated Edison by 1,766.0% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 988,961 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $102,980,000 after acquiring an additional 935,962 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Consolidated Edison by 82.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,268,424 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $132,081,000 after buying an additional 572,530 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 350.6% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 620,705 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $64,634,000 after buying an additional 482,953 shares in the last quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Consolidated Edison during the fourth quarter worth $37,147,000. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,429,218 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,439,684,000 after purchasing an additional 399,034 shares during the period. 66.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ED shares. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Consolidated Edison from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank upped their target price on Consolidated Edison from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered shares of Consolidated Edison from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $101.50.

Consolidated Edison Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of ED stock traded up $1.97 on Thursday, hitting $104.61. The stock had a trading volume of 2,392,129 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,769,030. 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 stock has a market cap of $36.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.30. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a 12-month low of $87.16 and a 12-month high of $107.97. The business has a 50 day moving average of $95.62 and a 200 day moving average of $98.15.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. The company 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, analysts expect that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.62 EPS for the current year.

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This is an increase from Consolidated Edison's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. Consolidated Edison's dividend payout ratio is presently 64.89%.

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.