Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) Declares $0.83 Quarterly Dividend

Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 18th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of 0.83 per share by the utilities provider on Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th.

Consolidated Edison has raised its dividend payment by an average of 1.9% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 51 years. Consolidated Edison has a dividend payout ratio of 59.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Consolidated Edison to earn $5.60 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.32 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 59.3%.

Consolidated Edison Trading Up 1.0 %

ED opened at $91.77 on Friday. Consolidated Edison has a one year low of $80.46 and a one year high of $100.92. The company has a market cap of $31.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.78, a PEG ratio of 8.57 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.01. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $88.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $89.62.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.02. Consolidated Edison had a return on equity of 8.41% and a net margin of 17.19%. The business had revenue of $3.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.81 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Consolidated Edison will post 5.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Consolidated Edison

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kapstone Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Consolidated Edison during the fourth quarter worth $201,000. Covestor Ltd increased its position in Consolidated Edison by 74.3% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,053 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $194,000 after buying an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Pacific Center for Financial Services purchased a new stake in shares of Consolidated Edison in the first quarter valued at $191,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Consolidated Edison in the first quarter valued at $130,000. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 53.5% in the first quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 1,411 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $106,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares during the period. 66.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ED has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Consolidated Edison from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on Consolidated Edison in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $92.50 price target on the stock. KeyCorp upgraded Consolidated Edison from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Consolidated Edison from $94.00 to $93.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on Consolidated Edison from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “sector underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Consolidated Edison has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $87.96.

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.