Vestcor Inc Cuts Holdings in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

Vestcor Inc trimmed its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 236,232 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 10,759 shares during the quarter. Consolidated Edison accounts for approximately 0.7% of Vestcor Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Consolidated Edison were worth $21,079,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Consolidated Edison during the third quarter valued at approximately $776,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Consolidated Edison by 4.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,145,128 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $223,373,000 after acquiring an additional 82,985 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Consolidated Edison by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 143,136 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,772,000 after acquiring an additional 3,900 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Consolidated Edison by 102.7% in the fourth quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 430,279 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,394,000 after acquiring an additional 217,981 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Consolidated Edison by 81.4% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 9,921 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $885,000 after acquiring an additional 4,451 shares in the last quarter. 66.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Consolidated Edison Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE ED opened at $102.72 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $35.62 billion, a PE ratio of 19.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a fifty day moving average of $95.30 and a 200 day moving average of $98.11. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a 1 year low of $87.16 and a 1 year high of $107.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last posted its 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. 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 earnings per share for the current 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 $0.85 dividend. This is a boost from Consolidated Edison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. Consolidated Edison’s payout ratio is presently 64.89%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ED has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price 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. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Consolidated Edison from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.50.

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.