New York State Common Retirement Fund Trims Stock Position in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its stake in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 235,924 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 12,000 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.07% of Consolidated Edison worth $21,051,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased 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 buying an additional 935,962 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 82.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,268,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $132,081,000 after acquiring an additional 572,530 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 10,262.1% in 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 raised its position in Consolidated Edison by 350.6% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 620,705 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,634,000 after purchasing an additional 482,953 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in Consolidated Edison by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,429,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,439,684,000 after purchasing an additional 399,034 shares during the period. 66.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ED shares. Scotiabank raised shares of Consolidated Edison from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $90.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays lowered their target price on Consolidated Edison from $99.00 to $92.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Consolidated Edison from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. 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 research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, 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 note on Monday, February 3rd. Two 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.70.

Consolidated Edison Price Performance

Consolidated Edison stock opened at $98.27 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.04 billion, a PE ratio of 18.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.39. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a 52 week low of $85.85 and a 52 week high of $107.75. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $92.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.98. 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 (NYSE:ED) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. Consolidated Edison had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 8.62%. The business had revenue of $3.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.63 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a $0.85 dividend. This is an increase from Consolidated Edison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.89%.

Consolidated Edison 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.