Van ECK Associates Corp Boosts Stock Position in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED - Free Report) by 12.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 108,165 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 12,238 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp's holdings in Consolidated Edison were worth $9,651,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 98,928 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $10,301,000 after acquiring an additional 7,269 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Consolidated Edison during the 3rd quarter valued at about $115,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 70.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,695 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $489,000 after acquiring an additional 1,946 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 20.1% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 190,145 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $19,800,000 after acquiring an additional 31,761 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Consolidated Edison during the 3rd quarter valued at about $363,000. 66.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Consolidated Edison Price Performance

ED traded up $0.51 during trading on Thursday, reaching $95.77. 2,579,680 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,400,880. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $85.85 and a 12-month high of $107.75. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $98.03. The company has a market cap of $33.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.04, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.39.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.35 EPS for the current year.

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This is a positive change from Consolidated Edison's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. Consolidated Edison's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ED shares. Evercore ISI cut shares of Consolidated Edison from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective 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. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Consolidated Edison from a "sector underperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $99.00 to $92.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $100.70.

About Consolidated Edison

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.