Alpha Cubed Investments LLC Decreases Stock Position in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

Alpha Cubed Investments LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,708 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 120 shares during the period. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC’s holdings in Consolidated Edison were worth $242,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,273,115 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $113,845,000 after purchasing an additional 125,859 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 13.0% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 868 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in Consolidated Edison during the second quarter worth $234,000. AE Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 23.4% in the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,412 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,020,000 after acquiring an additional 2,163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 5.0% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 31,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,806,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ED has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on Consolidated Edison from $104.00 to $99.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Consolidated Edison in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $108.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Evercore ISI raised shares of Consolidated Edison from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Citigroup raised Consolidated Edison from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $103.00 to $116.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Consolidated Edison currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.64.

Consolidated Edison Price Performance

ED stock opened at $93.17 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $32.28 billion, a PE ratio of 17.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $93.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $98.01. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a 12-month low of $85.85 and a 12-month high of $107.75.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.12. Consolidated Edison had a return on equity of 8.70% and a net margin of 12.27%. The business had revenue of $4.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.02 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.35 EPS for the current year.

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This is an increase from Consolidated Edison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.52%.

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.