Consolidated Edison, Inc. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.83 (NYSE:ED)

Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 18th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.83 per share by the utilities provider on Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%.

Consolidated Edison has raised its dividend by an average of 1.9% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 51 years. Consolidated Edison has a payout ratio of 57.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Consolidated Edison to earn $5.60 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.24 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 57.9%.

Consolidated Edison Stock Performance

Shares of ED traded up $0.57 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $90.90. 2,525,525 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,797,288. Consolidated Edison has a fifty-two week low of $80.46 and a fifty-two week high of $100.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.58, a P/E/G ratio of 8.24 and a beta of 0.35. The business’s 50 day moving average is $88.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.02. Consolidated Edison had a net margin of 17.19% and a return on equity of 8.41%. The business had revenue of $3.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.81 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Consolidated Edison will post 5.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 2.0% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,949,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $761,387,000 after buying an additional 154,945 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,352,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $577,917,000 after purchasing an additional 151,811 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison by 89,231.2% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,145,861 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $395,142,000 after purchasing an additional 4,141,220 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison by 33.3% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,128,579 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $393,495,000 after purchasing an additional 1,030,730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison during the 4th quarter worth approximately $318,245,000. 66.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on shares of Consolidated Edison in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $92.50 target price for the company. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “sector underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $94.00 to $93.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Consolidated Edison from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $99.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $87.96.

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.