Northstar Financial Companies Inc. Takes $596,000 Position in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

Northstar Financial Companies Inc. bought a new position in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 6,678 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $596,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison in the fourth quarter valued at $399,824,000. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP raised its stake in Consolidated Edison by 412.0% during the fourth quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 1,093,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $97,564,000 after purchasing an additional 879,866 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Consolidated Edison by 27.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,721,730 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $332,090,000 after purchasing an additional 812,885 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison by 232.3% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,053,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $93,989,000 after buying an additional 736,348 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Burkehill Global Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Consolidated Edison in the 4th quarter worth about $53,538,000. 66.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Consolidated Edison Price Performance

Consolidated Edison stock opened at $103.92 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market cap of $37.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $108.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $100.07. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a 1 year low of $87.28 and a 1 year high of $114.87.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by ($0.05). Consolidated Edison had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 8.62%. The firm had revenue of $4.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.21 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.15 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Consolidated Edison Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. Consolidated Edison’s payout ratio is 62.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on ED shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $103.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Mizuho raised their price objective on Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays lifted their target price on Consolidated Edison from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Consolidated Edison from $94.00 to $93.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Consolidated Edison currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.27.

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.