BNP Paribas Financial Markets Sells 97,239 Shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets decreased its position in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) by 10.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 796,682 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 97,239 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Consolidated Edison were worth $82,958,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its position in Consolidated Edison by 10,302.6% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 24,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,546,000 after purchasing an additional 24,211 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in Consolidated Edison by 17,683.9% during the first quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 9,959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $904,000 after acquiring an additional 9,903 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its stake in Consolidated Edison by 74.5% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 17,150 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,557,000 after acquiring an additional 7,324 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its position in Consolidated Edison by 8.5% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 65,902 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,893,000 after purchasing an additional 5,161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its position in Consolidated Edison by 7.0% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 468,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,792,000 after purchasing an additional 30,838 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ED. Citigroup upgraded shares of Consolidated Edison from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $103.00 to $116.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Bank of America raised their target price 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. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $104.00 to $99.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.19.

Consolidated Edison Stock Performance

NYSE:ED opened at $101.58 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a fifty day moving average of $101.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $98.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.19 billion, a PE ratio of 19.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.36. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $85.85 and a fifty-two week high of $107.75.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $4.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.02 billion. Consolidated Edison had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 8.70%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Consolidated Edison Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.52%.

Consolidated Edison 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.