Short Interest in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) Increases By 7.3%

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ED. Scotiabank upgraded shares of 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 report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Consolidated Edison in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $108.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup raised Consolidated Edison from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $103.00 to $116.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Evercore ISI raised Consolidated Edison from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.64.

Consolidated Edison Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ED traded up $1.52 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $93.74. 3,516,795 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,807,728. Consolidated Edison has a 12 month low of $85.85 and a 12 month high of $107.75. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $93.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $97.97. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $32.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.38.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $4.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.02 billion. Consolidated Edison had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 8.70%. On average, equities analysts expect that Consolidated Edison will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This is an increase from Consolidated Edison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Consolidated Edison’s payout ratio is currently 62.52%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ED. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison during the 3rd quarter valued at about $776,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Consolidated Edison by 10,302.6% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 24,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,546,000 after purchasing an additional 24,211 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Consolidated Edison by 4.0% during 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 during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 143,136 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,772,000 after buying an additional 3,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 102.7% in the fourth quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 430,279 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,394,000 after buying an additional 217,981 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 66.29% of the company’s stock.

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.