Traders Purchase High Volume of Edison International Call Options (NYSE:EIX)

Edison International (NYSE:EIX) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders purchased 6,480 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 156% compared to the typical volume of 2,531 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Edison International from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Edison International from $96.00 to $87.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays lowered their target price on Edison International from $84.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Edison International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $56.50 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Edison International from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.96.

Insider Activity at Edison International

In related news, VP Adam S. Umanoff sold 25,619 shares of Edison International stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.05, for a total value of $2,127,657.95. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Edison International

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EIX. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Edison International in the second quarter worth $703,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Edison International in the second quarter worth $27,000. Choreo LLC bought a new position in Edison International in the second quarter worth $402,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in Edison International by 1.8% in the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 74,918 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,319,000 after purchasing an additional 1,322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in Edison International by 87.9% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $239,000 after purchasing an additional 1,556 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.95% of the company’s stock.

Edison International Stock Performance

Shares of EIX stock opened at $61.31 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.88. Edison International has a fifty-two week low of $55.27 and a fifty-two week high of $88.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $80.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.62. The company has a market capitalization of $23.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.98, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.93.

Edison International (NYSE:EIX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.01 billion. Edison International had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 8.52%. The business’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.38 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Edison International will post 4.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Edison International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.8275 per share. This represents a $3.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.40%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 7th. This is an increase from Edison International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. Edison International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 97.07%.

About Edison International

Edison International, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation and distribution of electric power. The company supplies and delivers electricity to approximately 50,000 square mile area of southern California to residential, commercial, industrial, public authorities, agricultural, and other sectors.