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

Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) announced 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 3.65%.

Consolidated Edison has increased its dividend 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 payout ratio of 57.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Consolidated Edison to earn $5.60 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.24 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 57.9%.

Consolidated Edison Trading Up 0.6 %

ED opened at $90.87 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $88.91 and a 200 day moving average of $89.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Consolidated Edison has a 12 month low of $80.46 and a 12 month high of $100.92. The firm has a market cap of $31.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.66, a P/E/G ratio of 8.52 and a beta of 0.35.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Consolidated Edison

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ED. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 2.0% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,949,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $761,387,000 after acquiring an additional 154,945 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Consolidated Edison by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,352,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $577,917,000 after purchasing an additional 151,811 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 89,231.2% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,145,861 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $395,142,000 after purchasing an additional 4,141,220 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 33.3% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,128,579 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $393,495,000 after purchasing an additional 1,030,730 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $318,245,000. Institutional investors own 66.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Consolidated Edison from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “sector underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on shares of Consolidated Edison in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $92.50 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price 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, UBS Group decreased their price target on Consolidated Edison from $99.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.