Vest Financial LLC Purchases 33,592 Shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

Vest Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 508,521 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 33,592 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Consolidated Edison were worth $52,952,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 2,501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 13.0% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 868 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 0.6% during the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 24,173 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,517,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. G&S Capital LLC increased its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 1.6% during the first quarter. G&S Capital LLC now owns 8,747 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $794,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 2.6% during 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.29% of the company’s stock.

Consolidated Edison Stock Performance

Shares of ED traded up $1.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $106.76. 6,365,337 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,843,017. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $102.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.64. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a 52-week low of $85.85 and a 52-week high of $106.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.92 billion, a PE ratio of 20.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.36.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. Consolidated Edison had a return on equity of 8.67% and a net margin of 12.03%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Consolidated Edison Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ED has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $97.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Scotiabank raised 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. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Consolidated Edison has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.27.

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.