Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Makes New Investment in Consolidated Edison Inc $ED

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Consolidated Edison Inc (NYSE:ED) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 32,615 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,334,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Consolidated Edison in the second quarter valued at $4,609,491,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in Consolidated Edison during the 2nd quarter worth about $749,184,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Consolidated Edison during the 2nd quarter worth about $494,352,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Consolidated Edison during the 2nd quarter worth about $231,014,000. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 66.2% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 3,872,404 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $438,272,000 after purchasing an additional 1,543,069 shares during the period. 66.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on ED shares. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $94.00 to $87.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $105.00 to $96.00 in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $105.00 price target (down from $121.00) on shares of Consolidated Edison in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $118.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $109.74.

Consolidated Edison Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE ED opened at $119.28 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $44.27 billion, a PE ratio of 20.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Consolidated Edison Inc has a 52-week low of $94.96 and a 52-week high of $122.75. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $109.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $109.65.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.75 billion. Consolidated Edison had a return on equity of 8.58% and a net margin of 12.70%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.90 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Consolidated Edison Inc will post 6.10 earnings per share for the current year.

Consolidated Edison Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.8875 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 18th. This represents a $3.55 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.80%.

About Consolidated Edison

Consolidated Edison, Inc. is an energy holding company whose principal business is delivering electricity, natural gas and steam through regulated utility subsidiaries. Its services include generating, transmitting and distributing energy to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Its largest subsidiary, Consolidated Edison Company of New York, serves customers in New York City and Westchester County. Orange and Rockland Utilities serves parts of southeastern New York and northern New Jersey.