Hartford Investment Management Co. Reduces Position in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

Hartford Investment Management Co. trimmed its holdings in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 21,742 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 404 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Consolidated Edison were worth $2,264,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Greenleaf Trust grew its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 17.5% in the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 8,147 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $848,000 after purchasing an additional 1,215 shares during the last quarter. Aquila Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Consolidated Edison in the 3rd quarter valued at about $521,000. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in Consolidated Edison in the 3rd quarter valued at about $435,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Consolidated Edison by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 12,535 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,305,000 after acquiring an additional 2,317 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ledyard National Bank increased its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 10.5% during the third quarter. Ledyard National Bank now owns 6,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $688,000 after acquiring an additional 630 shares during the period. 66.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ED. Citigroup upgraded Consolidated Edison from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $103.00 to $116.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group upped their target price on Consolidated Edison from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Consolidated Edison from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Consolidated Edison in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $108.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.73.

Consolidated Edison Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:ED opened at $107.00 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.54, a PEG 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 quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $103.10 and a 200 day moving average of $96.98.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.61 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Consolidated Edison Announces Dividend

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

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.