Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Acquires 3,213 Shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) by 7.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,070 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,213 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Consolidated Edison were worth $4,111,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in Consolidated Edison by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 416,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,129,000 after acquiring an additional 36,931 shares during the period. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 29,350 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,619,000 after purchasing an additional 3,239 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,693,000. Argentarii LLC bought a new stake in shares of Consolidated Edison in the fourth quarter valued at about $204,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Consolidated Edison in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. 66.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on ED shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Consolidated Edison from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho upped their target price on Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered shares of Consolidated Edison from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.50.

Consolidated Edison Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of ED stock opened at $102.72 on Thursday. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a 12-month low of $87.16 and a 12-month high of $107.97. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $95.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $98.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The company has a market capitalization of $35.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.30.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. Consolidated Edison had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 11.93%. The business had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.63 billion. Research analysts forecast that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This is a boost from Consolidated Edison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Consolidated Edison’s payout ratio is currently 64.89%.

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.