Clearbridge Investments LLC Purchases 595 Shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) by 2.1% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 28,761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 595 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Consolidated Edison were worth $2,612,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ED. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Consolidated Edison by 21.0% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 61,919 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,623,000 after buying an additional 10,763 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Consolidated Edison by 2.0% in the first quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 22,330 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,028,000 after buying an additional 444 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Consolidated Edison by 20.5% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 983 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new position in Consolidated Edison in the first quarter valued at about $54,000. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its stake in Consolidated Edison by 148.2% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 6,005 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $545,000 after buying an additional 3,586 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 66.29% of the company’s stock.

Consolidated Edison Price Performance

NYSE ED traded up $0.80 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $96.68. The company had a trading volume of 77,133 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,866,195. The company has a market capitalization of $33.43 billion, a PE ratio of 18.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $92.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.16. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a twelve month low of $80.46 and a twelve month high of $98.85.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.26. Consolidated Edison had a return on equity of 8.79% and a net margin of 12.43%. The company had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. Consolidated Edison’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Consolidated Edison Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 14th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Consolidated Edison from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. UBS Group increased their target price on Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Consolidated Edison from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Consolidated Edison from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Argus raised Consolidated Edison to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Consolidated Edison presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.04.

Consolidated Edison Company 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.