Verity & Verity LLC Has $360,000 Stock Holdings in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

Verity & Verity LLC reduced its position in shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 360 shares during the quarter. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in Consolidated Edison were worth $360,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 1.7% during the third 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. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Consolidated Edison by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,853,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $919,041,000 after purchasing an additional 107,281 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 1.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,148,666 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $223,741,000 after buying an additional 28,254 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison by 4.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,145,128 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $223,373,000 after buying an additional 82,985 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 11.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,273,115 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $113,845,000 after buying an additional 125,859 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.29% of the company’s stock.

Consolidated Edison Price Performance

ED stock opened at $93.74 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $93.44 and a 200-day moving average of $97.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.38. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a 12 month low of $85.85 and a 12 month high of $107.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.12. Consolidated Edison had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 8.70%. The firm had revenue of $4.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.02 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. Consolidated Edison’s payout ratio is presently 62.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ED. Citigroup upgraded shares of Consolidated Edison from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $103.00 to $116.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Barclays dropped their target price on Consolidated Edison from $104.00 to $99.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group increased their price target on Consolidated Edison from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Scotiabank raised shares of Consolidated Edison from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Consolidated Edison from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.64.

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.