Diamant Asset Management Inc. Decreases Stake in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

Diamant Asset Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,775 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 150 shares during the quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Consolidated Edison were worth $515,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ED. Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC now owns 8,745 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $780,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $731,000 after buying an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI grew its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 123.1% in the 4th quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 6,343 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $566,000 after buying an additional 3,500 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 46,095 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,113,000 after acquiring an additional 4,588 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 78.1% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $746,000 after acquiring an additional 3,666 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.29% of the company’s stock.

Consolidated Edison Trading Up 4.7 %

NYSE ED opened at $94.87 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $32.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.87, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $92.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.07. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a one year low of $85.85 and a one year high of $107.75.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $4.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.02 billion. Consolidated Edison had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 8.70%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This is an increase from Consolidated Edison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio is 62.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ED has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Consolidated Edison in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $108.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank raised shares of Consolidated Edison from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $90.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup upgraded Consolidated Edison from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $103.00 to $116.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Barclays reduced their target price on Consolidated Edison from $99.00 to $92.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI cut Consolidated Edison from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Consolidated Edison has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.00.

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.