Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) Upgraded to “Buy” at Citigroup

Citigroup upgraded shares of Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $116.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $103.00.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Consolidated Edison from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $97.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their target price on Consolidated Edison from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $96.46.

Consolidated Edison Price Performance

Consolidated Edison stock opened at $105.45 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market cap of $36.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.24, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $102.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.35. Consolidated Edison has a 12-month low of $85.15 and a 12-month high of $106.41.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. Consolidated Edison had a net margin of 12.03% and a return on equity of 8.67%. The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.61 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Consolidated Edison will post 5.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Consolidated Edison Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th were given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 14th. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.72%.

Institutional Trading of Consolidated Edison

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ED. Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Consolidated Edison by 2,307.7% in the first quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 313 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Consolidated Edison during the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Consolidated Edison during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Consolidated Edison in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Consolidated Edison by 380.2% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.29% of the company’s stock.

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.