Legal & General Group Plc Lowers Stock Position in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its stake in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED - Free Report) by 17.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,664,840 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 953,547 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 1.35% of Consolidated Edison worth $416,244,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ED. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,455,662 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,788,319,000 after purchasing an additional 488,752 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Consolidated Edison by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,984,022 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $799,684,000 after buying an additional 130,234 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Consolidated Edison during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $399,824,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Consolidated Edison by 27.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,721,730 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $332,090,000 after acquiring an additional 812,885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 3.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 77,323 shares in the last quarter. 66.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Consolidated Edison Trading Up 1.4 %

ED traded up $1.52 on Friday, reaching $109.82. 2,617,191 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,226,843. The company has a market cap of $39.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a one year low of $87.28 and a one year high of $114.87. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $103.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $98.91.

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 firm had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.63 billion. Consolidated Edison had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 8.62%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This is an increase from Consolidated Edison's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. Consolidated Edison's dividend payout ratio is presently 64.89%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ED. Mizuho boosted their price target 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. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Consolidated Edison from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Consolidated Edison from $110.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Consolidated Edison has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $102.80.

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.