AIA Group Ltd Takes Position in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

AIA Group Ltd acquired a new position in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 2,828 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $252,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 67,504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,023,000 after purchasing an additional 2,916 shares during the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Consolidated Edison during the 4th quarter worth approximately $100,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison by 1,327.9% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 322,436 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,700,000 after buying an additional 299,855 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison by 33.6% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 628,438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $56,032,000 after purchasing an additional 157,976 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz SE bought a new stake in Consolidated Edison in the fourth quarter valued at about $246,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Consolidated Edison from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group increased their target price on Consolidated Edison from $110.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.40.

Consolidated Edison Stock Performance

Shares of ED opened at $110.07 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.01, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.30. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a 12 month low of $87.28 and a 12 month high of $111.11. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $100.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $98.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

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

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. This is an increase from Consolidated Edison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.89%.

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.