Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) Increases Dividend to $0.85 Per Share

Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 16th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of 0.85 per share by the utilities provider on Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a boost from Consolidated Edison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83.

Consolidated Edison has increased its dividend by an average of 2.3% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 52 consecutive years. Consolidated Edison has a dividend payout ratio of 57.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Consolidated Edison to earn $5.62 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 60.5%.

Consolidated Edison Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE ED opened at $95.01 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $32.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.39. Consolidated Edison has a 52-week low of $85.85 and a 52-week high of $107.75. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $91.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $98.13.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ED. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Consolidated Edison from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $99.00 to $92.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Consolidated Edison from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Consolidated Edison presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.70.

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.