Monday, January 24, 2011

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) Offers No Surprises with Guidance

Coming off a good quarter, which largely met expectations, and earnings beating expectations, Consolidated Edison's (NYSE:ED) guidance was comparable with what was being looked for.

Barclays says, "ED reported full-year 2010 operating EPS of $3.45 (ex. $0.04 favorable M-T-M) v. our $3.46E and consensus of $3.43...ED's 2011 EPS guidance is between $3.45 - $3.65, and in-line with our '11E of $3.55E. The Company outlined a $2.1B capex program, and $600M in long-term debt financings. Equity issuance will be limited to the company's dividend reinvestment and employee stock plans for which we are projecting to be between $50M - $85M. The apparent benefit from bonus depreciation will likely be offset through customer refunds issued at the cost of capital.

"We reiterate our EW and price target, predicated on '12E of $3.70, with a 5% large-cap premium to our 12.7X utility group multiple."

Barclays reiterates an "Equalweight" rating on Consolidated Edison (ED), which closed Friday at $49.87, down $0.66, or 1.31 percent. Barclays has a price target on ED of $49.

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