Sandy Spring Bank Acquires 125 Shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

Sandy Spring Bank boosted its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) by 11.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,222 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the quarter. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in Consolidated Edison were worth $111,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison by 140.8% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 36,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,361,000 after purchasing an additional 21,604 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 169.9% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 60,314 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,487,000 after buying an additional 37,971 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC increased its position in Consolidated Edison by 24.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 91,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,844,000 after buying an additional 18,270 shares during the period. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Consolidated Edison during the fourth quarter worth $1,551,000. Finally, Comerica Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Consolidated Edison during the third quarter worth $8,014,000. 66.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Consolidated Edison Price Performance

Shares of ED stock opened at $88.63 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $88.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $89.46. The company has a market cap of $30.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.34, a P/E/G ratio of 8.35 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a twelve month low of $80.46 and a twelve month high of $100.92.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.02. Consolidated Edison had a return on equity of 8.41% and a net margin of 17.19%. The firm had revenue of $3.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.81 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 14th were paid a $0.83 dividend. This is an increase from Consolidated Edison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 13th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.75%. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on ED shares. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “sector underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $99.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Consolidated Edison from $94.00 to $93.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded Consolidated Edison from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Consolidated Edison currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $87.96.

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.