Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 2,510 Shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

Van ECK Associates Corp trimmed its position in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 78,690 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,510 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Consolidated Edison were worth $7,158,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Consolidated Edison by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,201,026 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $530,373,000 after purchasing an additional 27,850 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Consolidated Edison by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,484,026 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $383,519,000 after purchasing an additional 340,239 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Consolidated Edison by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,221,543 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $361,069,000 after purchasing an additional 72,915 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Consolidated Edison by 4.5% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,976,921 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $254,616,000 after acquiring an additional 129,519 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Consolidated Edison by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,984,449 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $169,716,000 after acquiring an additional 26,910 shares during the last quarter. 66.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Consolidated Edison Stock Performance

Consolidated Edison stock opened at $95.56 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $90.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $90.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.02 billion, a PE ratio of 13.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.92 and a beta of 0.34. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a 1-year low of $80.46 and a 1-year high of $100.44.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $4.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.40 billion. Consolidated Edison had a net margin of 17.19% and a return on equity of 8.41%. Consolidated Edison’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Consolidated Edison Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on ED. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $94.00 to $93.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $99.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $87.75.

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.