Russell Investments Group Ltd. Buys 153,357 Shares of Consolidated Edison Inc $ED

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Consolidated Edison by 39.9% in Q1, owning approximately $59.44 million worth of shares after purchasing over 153,000 additional shares.
• Consolidated Edison reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.67 for the latest quarter, exceeding analyst expectations of $0.66, along with revenue of $3.60 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.85, which will yield 3.3% annually, with an ex-dividend date set for August 13th.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in Consolidated Edison Inc (NYSE:ED - Free Report) by 39.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 537,791 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 153,357 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.15% of Consolidated Edison worth $59,440,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 16.8% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 10,666 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,180,000 after purchasing an additional 1,533 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Consolidated Edison in the first quarter worth about $227,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Consolidated Edison by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 250,014 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $27,649,000 after acquiring an additional 6,869 shares during the last quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new position in Consolidated Edison during the first quarter valued at $217,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 45.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,242 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,022,000 after buying an additional 2,869 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ED shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Consolidated Edison from $103.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America lowered shares of Consolidated Edison from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $112.00 to $101.00 in a report on Friday. KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Consolidated Edison in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $96.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $105.82.

Consolidated Edison Stock Down 1.0%

ED traded down $1.02 during trading on Monday, hitting $99.75. The company had a trading volume of 1,341,126 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,730,466. Consolidated Edison Inc has a 1-year low of $87.28 and a 1-year high of $114.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company has a market cap of $35.97 billion, a PE ratio of 18.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.24. The business has a 50-day moving average of $101.70 and a 200-day moving average of $103.61.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.39 billion. Consolidated Edison had a return on equity of 8.56% and a net margin of 11.98%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Consolidated Edison Inc will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Consolidated Edison Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Consolidated Edison's dividend payout ratio is currently 61.71%.

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.