Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) Shares Up 5% – Time to Buy?

Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)’s stock price shot up 5% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $94.80 and last traded at $95.13. 1,651,012 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 23% from the average session volume of 2,147,737 shares. The stock had previously closed at $90.60.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ED shares. Evercore ISI lowered Consolidated Edison from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup upgraded Consolidated Edison from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $103.00 to $116.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank upgraded Consolidated Edison from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Consolidated Edison in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $108.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Consolidated Edison from $99.00 to $92.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Consolidated Edison has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.00.

Consolidated Edison Stock Up 5.4 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market cap of $33.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $92.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $98.07.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.12. Consolidated Edison had a return on equity of 8.70% and a net margin of 12.27%. The business had revenue of $4.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.02 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. This is a positive change from Consolidated Edison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.56%. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.52%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Consolidated Edison

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Consolidated Edison during the third quarter worth about $776,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 10,302.6% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 24,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,546,000 after purchasing an additional 24,211 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 4.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,145,128 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $223,373,000 after purchasing an additional 82,985 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 143,136 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,772,000 after purchasing an additional 3,900 shares during the period. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 102.7% during the fourth quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 430,279 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,394,000 after purchasing an additional 217,981 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.29% of the company’s stock.

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.