Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Purchases 396,985 Shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) by 4,020.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 406,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 396,985 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Consolidated Edison were worth $42,366,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,000,741 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $181,687,000 after purchasing an additional 123,654 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in Consolidated Edison by 0.8% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,502,523 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $134,323,000 after buying an additional 11,785 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 11.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,273,115 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $113,845,000 after buying an additional 125,859 shares during the last quarter. Clean Energy Transition LLP raised its position in Consolidated Edison by 227.9% in the second quarter. Clean Energy Transition LLP now owns 897,553 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $80,259,000 after acquiring an additional 623,787 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison by 14.6% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 720,573 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $65,435,000 after acquiring an additional 91,559 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ED shares. Citigroup upgraded Consolidated Edison from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $103.00 to $116.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Barclays upped their price target on Consolidated Edison from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Consolidated Edison from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.73.

Consolidated Edison Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ED opened at $107.00 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $37.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.36. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a 52-week low of $85.85 and a 52-week high of $107.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $103.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $96.98.

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

Consolidated Edison Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.72%.

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.