Consolidated Edison Gains On Systematic Capital Investments

We issued an updated research report on Consolidated Edison Inc (NYSE:ED) . The company primarily engages in regulated electric, gas and steam delivery businesses in the United States.

In the past six months, shares of the company have gained 14.9% compared with the industry’s rise of 12.5%.

What’s Driving the Stock?

Consolidated Edison focuses on systematic capital investment plans for infrastructure development to maintain the reliability of electric, gas and steam delivery systems. The company boasts a robust capital expenditure plan of around $11.1 billion for the 2017-2019 time frame.

Consolidated Edison is investing steadily to enhance renewable generation assets. The company is gradually converting some operations to gas, which is environment friendly.

Also, the company resorts to maximizing shareholders’ value, through higher dividend payouts. On Jan 18, 2018, management hiked quarterly dividend payout to 71.5 cents per share from the previous distribution of 69 cents. This marked 44th straight yearly increase by the company. The current dividend yield of the company is pegged at 3.45%, higher than the industry’s 2.96% and Zacks S&P 500 composites’ 2.02%.

However, the company faces risks like stringent utility regulations and higher interest rates.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Consolidated Edison currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

A few better-ranked stocks from the same industry are Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) , FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) and Xcel Energy Inc (NASDAQ:XEL) . All the three stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2018 earnings for Ameren moved up 3.7% in the past 90 days. The company pulled off positive earnings surprise of 15.40% in the last four quarters.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2018 earnings for FirstEnergy rose 3.6% in the past 90 days. The company delivered average positive earnings surprise of 3.67% in the last four quarters.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2018 earnings for Xcel Energy inched up 0.4% in the past 90 days. The company came up with average positive earnings surprise of 4.51% in the last four quarters.

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