Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Acquires 5,205 Shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) by 212.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,657 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,205 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Consolidated Edison were worth $685,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Consolidated Edison during the 4th quarter worth approximately $243,511,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,032,385 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $184,886,000 after acquiring an additional 47,936 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,000,741 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $181,687,000 after acquiring an additional 123,654 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,386,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $126,042,000 after purchasing an additional 139,370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,126,595 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $102,484,000 after purchasing an additional 6,176 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ED shares. Guggenheim raised their target price on Consolidated Edison from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays raised their price objective on Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $92.65.

Consolidated Edison Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ED traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $100.88. 374,642 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,855,214. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.34. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $95.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $92.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.92. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a 52 week low of $80.46 and a 52 week high of $105.99.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. Consolidated Edison had a net margin of 12.03% and a return on equity of 8.70%. The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.61 EPS. Analysts predict that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.31 EPS for the current year.

Consolidated Edison Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 14th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.72%.

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.