Scientech Research LLC Makes New Investment in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

Scientech Research LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 14,596 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,302,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison by 4.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,145,128 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $223,373,000 after acquiring an additional 82,985 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 143,136 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,772,000 after purchasing an additional 3,900 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in Consolidated Edison by 81.4% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 9,921 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $885,000 after purchasing an additional 4,451 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 132,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,846,000 after purchasing an additional 3,135 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in Consolidated Edison by 54.0% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 9,133 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $815,000 after purchasing an additional 3,204 shares in the last quarter. 66.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Consolidated Edison from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $103.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $96.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $94.00 target price on Consolidated Edison and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Consolidated Edison has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.36.

Consolidated Edison Stock Performance

Consolidated Edison stock opened at $104.31 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $108.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $99.84. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.28 and a 52 week high of $114.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.91, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.29. 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 (NYSE:ED) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $4.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.21 billion. Consolidated Edison had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 11.93%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.15 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Consolidated Edison Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.85%.

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.