KCM Investment Advisors LLC Acquires 545 Shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

KCM Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) by 19.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,405 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 545 shares during the period. KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Consolidated Edison were worth $304,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ED. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 2,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Jacobi Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 2,569 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Consolidated Edison by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,194 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $463,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. increased its stake in Consolidated Edison by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 2,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $205,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Trust Point Inc. raised its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 2,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $249,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ED shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Consolidated Edison from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI cut shares of Consolidated Edison from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays raised 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Consolidated Edison has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.40.

Consolidated Edison Stock Performance

NYSE:ED opened at $109.53 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a 1 year low of $87.28 and a 1 year high of $114.87. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $101.43 and a 200-day moving average of $98.70.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.63 billion. Consolidated Edison had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 11.93%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. This is a positive change from Consolidated Edison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.