Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Takes Position in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 480,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $42,916,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ED. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison during the third quarter valued at about $564,000. United Bank purchased a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison during the third quarter valued at about $227,000. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison during the third quarter valued at about $321,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on ED. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Consolidated Edison from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Consolidated Edison presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.50.

Consolidated Edison Stock Performance

Consolidated Edison stock opened at $103.85 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $95.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $98.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.01. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $87.16 and a fifty-two week high of $107.97. The company has a market capitalization of $36.01 billion, a PE ratio of 19.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.30.

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

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. This is a positive change from Consolidated Edison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.