Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Grows Stock Holdings in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its position in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 254,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,587 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Consolidated Edison were worth $23,114,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. MGO One Seven LLC lifted its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison by 2.1% in the third quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 5,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $490,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 3.8% during the third quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 3,312 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $283,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,716 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $702,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Sandy Spring Bank raised its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 1,222 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC raised its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 4.9% during the third quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 2,764 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on shares of Consolidated Edison in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $92.50 target price for the company. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $99.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. KeyCorp raised shares of Consolidated Edison from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $94.00 to $93.00 and set a “sector perform” 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 given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $87.54.

Consolidated Edison Price Performance

ED stock traded up $0.96 during trading on Monday, hitting $92.73. 1,795,838 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,870,343. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a 52 week low of $80.46 and a 52 week high of $100.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.01. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $89.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.92, a P/E/G ratio of 8.65 and a beta of 0.35.

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

Consolidated Edison Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.24%.

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.