Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) Shares Bought by Kovack Advisors Inc.

Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) by 47.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,381 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,058 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Consolidated Edison were worth $664,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ED. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. increased its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison by 4.2% during the second quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 2,501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison by 13.0% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 868 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 24,173 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,517,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison by 2.6% in the second quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 5,627 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $503,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Center For Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 3.5% during the second quarter. Center For Asset Management LLC now owns 4,358 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $390,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ED has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Consolidated Edison in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $108.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America upped their price target on Consolidated Edison from $97.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Citigroup raised Consolidated Edison from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $103.00 to $116.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.35.

Consolidated Edison Trading Down 0.8 %

Consolidated Edison stock opened at $95.41 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $103.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $98.02. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a 52 week low of $85.85 and a 52 week high of $107.75. The stock has a market cap of $33.05 billion, a PE ratio of 17.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $4.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.02 billion. Consolidated Edison had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 8.70%. Equities research analysts predict that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.33 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 Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. Consolidated Edison’s payout ratio is currently 62.52%.

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.