Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) Short Interest Update

Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 14,910,000 shares, a growth of 7.3% from the December 31st total of 13,890,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,170,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.9 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on ED. Scotiabank upgraded Consolidated Edison from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Consolidated Edison in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $108.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup upgraded shares of Consolidated Edison from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $103.00 to $116.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Consolidated Edison

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ED. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake 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 lifted its stake in Consolidated Edison by 82.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,268,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $132,081,000 after purchasing an additional 572,530 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 10,262.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 553,546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,641,000 after acquiring an additional 548,204 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 350.6% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 620,705 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $64,634,000 after purchasing an additional 482,953 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake 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 worth $2,439,684,000 after acquiring an additional 399,034 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.29% of the company’s stock.

Consolidated Edison Price Performance

ED stock traded down $0.58 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $95.04. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 328,700 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,412,404. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The company’s fifty day moving average is $92.42 and its 200-day moving average is $98.15. The company has a market capitalization of $32.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.39. Consolidated Edison has a 1 year low of $85.85 and a 1 year high of $107.75.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.12. Consolidated Edison had a return on equity of 8.70% and a net margin of 12.27%. The firm had revenue of $4.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.02 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Consolidated Edison will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. 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 payout ratio 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.