Dividend Aristocrats In Focus Part 1: Consolidated Edison, Inc. (ED)

Consolidated Edison Business Overview

Consolidated Edison is a regulated utility holding company. The company owns Consolidated Edison Company of New York (Abbreviated: CECONY) and Orange and Rockland Utilities (abbreviated: O&R).

CECONY sells electricity, gas, and steam in New York City and Westchester County. O&R sells electricity and gas in New York and New Jersey.

In addition, the company has ownership in midstream gas businesses and competitive energy businesses.

The image below gives an overview of the company’s operating structure:

Source:  Consolidated Edison September 2016 Update, slide 4

Make no mistake; Consolidated Edison is by-and-large an electric, gas, and steam utility. CECONY & O&R generated 95% of 2015 earnings-per-share. The company’s base rate composition is shown in the image below:

Source:  Consolidated Edison September 2016 Update, slide 25

Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) has a long operating history. The company can trace its history back to 1823 – when it was known a s New York Gas Light Company.

61 years into the company’s history (1884), several gas light utilities in New York consolidated their businesses. The combined company was known as the Consolidated Gas Company of New York. The consolidated business continued to grow, acquiring gas, electric and steam companies along the way. In 1936, the company changed its name to Consolidated Edison.

A business with such a long-operating history certainly qualified as a blue chip stock. Consolidated Edison has a long dividend history as well…

Consolidated Edison’s Dividend History

Consolidated Edison has paid increasing dividends for 42 consecutive years. The company’s dividend history since 1982 is shown in the image below:

Source:  Data from Yahoo! Finance