Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Stake in Consolidated Edison Inc (NYSE:ED)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 1.6%, owning nearly 44 million shares valued at approximately $4.77 billion.
• Multiple institutional investors have significantly boosted their stakes, with notable increases such as GAMMA Investing LLC growing its holdings by 15,937.5% in the same quarter.
• Consolidated Edison declared a quarterly dividend of $0.85, representing an annualized yield of 3.2%, with a payout ratio of 62.85%.

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison Inc (NYSE:ED - Free Report) by 1.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 43,117,094 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 661,432 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 11.97% of Consolidated Edison worth $4,768,319,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 15,937.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,022,073 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $113,031,000 after purchasing an additional 1,015,700 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 232.3% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,053,339 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $93,989,000 after purchasing an additional 736,348 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 192.1% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 792,830 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $70,744,000 after purchasing an additional 521,413 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Yaupon Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 457.0% during the fourth quarter. Yaupon Capital Management LP now owns 625,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $55,769,000 after purchasing an additional 512,784 shares in the last quarter. 66.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Consolidated Edison Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ED traded down $0.45 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $104.55. 2,796,396 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,027,847. The company has a market cap of $37.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.28. Consolidated Edison Inc has a one year low of $87.28 and a one year high of $114.87. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $101.66 and a 200 day moving average of $103.18.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.01. Consolidated Edison had a return on equity of 8.68% and a net margin of 11.98%. The firm had revenue of $3.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Consolidated Edison Inc will post 5.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Consolidated Edison Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Consolidated Edison's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ED has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. Mizuho boosted their target price on Consolidated Edison from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Consolidated Edison in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Consolidated Edison from $96.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays boosted 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Consolidated Edison presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $105.20.

Consolidated Edison 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.