Financial Counselors Inc. Sells 707 Shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

Financial Counselors Inc. reduced its position in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) by 12.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,769 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 707 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Consolidated Edison were worth $426,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ED. Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 112,374 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,222,000 after purchasing an additional 7,418 shares during the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Consolidated Edison during the 4th quarter valued at $280,000. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Consolidated Edison during the 4th quarter worth $217,000. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management bought a new position in Consolidated Edison in the fourth quarter valued at $208,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Consolidated Edison by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,032,385 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $184,886,000 after purchasing an additional 47,936 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.29% of the company’s stock.

Consolidated Edison Stock Performance

NYSE:ED opened at $104.40 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $96.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.29. The stock has a market cap of $36.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.34. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a twelve month low of $80.46 and a twelve month high of $105.99.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. Consolidated Edison had a net margin of 12.03% and a return on equity of 8.67%. The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.61 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.3 EPS for the current year.

Consolidated Edison Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 14th. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on ED shares. Argus raised Consolidated Edison to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.65.

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.