Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) Shares Sold by Avantax Planning Partners Inc.

Avantax Planning Partners Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,846 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 396 shares during the quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc.’s holdings in Consolidated Edison were worth $611,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Consolidated Edison during the 3rd quarter valued at about $776,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 4.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,145,128 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $223,373,000 after buying an additional 82,985 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 143,136 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,772,000 after buying an additional 3,900 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings 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. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 81.4% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 9,921 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $885,000 after purchasing an additional 4,451 shares during the period. 66.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ED has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Consolidated Edison from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Scotiabank lifted 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 note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.50.

Consolidated Edison Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE:ED opened at $103.85 on Wednesday. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.16 and a 52 week high of $107.97. 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 company’s fifty day moving average is $95.04 and its 200-day moving average is $98.07. The company has a market capitalization of $36.00 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.67 billion for 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given 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 is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio is 64.89%.

Consolidated Edison Profile

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.