Cibc World Markets Corp Increases Stake in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

Cibc World Markets Corp raised its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) by 16.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,666 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,711 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp’s holdings in Consolidated Edison were worth $4,878,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 8,246 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $736,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 17,389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,552,000 after buying an additional 935 shares during the last quarter. GWN Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Consolidated Edison during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,215,000. Gitterman Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 149.0% during the fourth quarter. Gitterman Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,472 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $488,000 after buying an additional 3,274 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Choate Investment Advisors increased its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 2,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $214,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. 66.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ED shares. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Consolidated Edison from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.50.

Consolidated Edison Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ED opened at $107.53 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $97.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $98.32. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $87.16 and a fifty-two week high of $108.43. The firm has a market cap of $37.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.30.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.63 billion. Consolidated Edison had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 8.62%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This is an increase from Consolidated Edison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.16%. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio 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.