Raymond James Financial Inc. Acquires Shares of 272,261 Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 272,261 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $24,294,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of Consolidated Edison at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ED. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Consolidated Edison during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Consolidated Edison during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. CGC Financial Services LLC raised its position in Consolidated Edison by 64.0% during the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Consolidated Edison during the third quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in Consolidated Edison by 4,983.3% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 598 shares in the last quarter. 66.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on ED shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Consolidated Edison from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target 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, seven have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.50.

Consolidated Edison Stock Up 1.9 %

Consolidated Edison stock opened at $106.60 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $36.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.34, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.30. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a 52-week low of $87.16 and a 52-week high of $107.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $95.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $98.18.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.63 billion. Consolidated Edison had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 8.62%. Equities analysts predict that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.62 EPS for the current year.

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. This is an increase from Consolidated Edison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Consolidated Edison’s payout ratio is 64.89%.

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.