Vestcor Inc Sells 7,685 Shares of Consolidated Edison Inc (NYSE:ED)

Vestcor Inc lowered its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison Inc (NYSE:ED - Free Report) by 3.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 228,547 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 7,685 shares during the period. Consolidated Edison makes up 0.8% of Vestcor Inc's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Vestcor Inc owned about 0.06% of Consolidated Edison worth $25,275,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ED. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Consolidated Edison by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,984,022 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $799,684,000 after acquiring an additional 130,234 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Consolidated Edison by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,820,449 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $430,129,000 after buying an additional 271,088 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Consolidated Edison by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,207,753 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $375,458,000 after buying an additional 390,708 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Consolidated Edison by 27.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,721,730 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $332,090,000 after buying an additional 812,885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in Consolidated Edison by 22.1% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,702,855 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $151,946,000 after buying an additional 308,683 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.29% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on ED. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Consolidated Edison in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Consolidated Edison from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $107.00 in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $105.09.

Consolidated Edison Trading Up 0.9%

ED traded up $0.91 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $104.41. The stock had a trading volume of 2,272,574 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,755,390. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $101.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $102.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.26. Consolidated Edison Inc has a 1-year low of $87.28 and a 1-year high of $114.87.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $4.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.21 billion. Consolidated Edison had a return on equity of 8.61% and a net margin of 11.98%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.15 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Consolidated Edison Inc will post 5.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Consolidated Edison Dividend Announcement

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

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.