Short Interest in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) Grows By 7.3%

Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) saw a large growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 14,910,000 shares, a growth of 7.3% from the December 15th total of 13,890,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,170,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.9 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison in the third quarter worth $30,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison in the third quarter worth $55,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Consolidated Edison during the third quarter worth $55,000. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. raised its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison by 189.5% in the third quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 579 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. 66.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ED shares. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Consolidated Edison from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Consolidated Edison from $104.00 to $99.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Consolidated Edison from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank raised Consolidated Edison from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Citigroup raised Consolidated Edison from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $103.00 to $116.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.64.

Consolidated Edison Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ED traded up $1.52 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $93.74. The company had a trading volume of 3,516,795 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,807,728. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $93.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $97.91. The stock has a market cap of $32.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.38. 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 has a twelve month low of $85.85 and a twelve month high of $107.75.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $4.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.02 billion. Consolidated Edison had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 8.70%. On average, research analysts predict that Consolidated Edison will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This is an increase from Consolidated Edison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.52%.

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.