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

Edison International (NYSE:EIX) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors purchased 6,480 call options on the company. This is an increase of 156% compared to the average volume of 2,531 call options.

Insider Transactions at Edison International

In other news, VP Adam S. Umanoff sold 25,619 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.05, for a total value of $2,127,657.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in shares of Edison International in the third quarter worth approximately $1,387,000. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Edison International by 5.2% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 309,716 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,973,000 after purchasing an additional 15,181 shares during the last quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Edison International in the third quarter worth approximately $2,291,000. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of Edison International by 13.5% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 506,819 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,139,000 after purchasing an additional 60,182 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in Edison International by 5.3% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 695,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,022,000 after acquiring an additional 34,701 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.95% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Edison International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $56.50 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Edison International from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Edison International in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $93.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Edison International from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Edison International from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.96.

Edison International Price Performance

NYSE EIX traded up $5.25 on Wednesday, reaching $63.68. 3,312,529 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,998,936. Edison International has a 12 month low of $55.27 and a 12 month high of $88.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.62. The stock has a market cap of $24.65 billion, a PE ratio of 18.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.93.

Edison International (NYSE:EIX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.13. Edison International had a net margin of 8.52% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Edison International will post 4.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Edison International Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be issued a $0.8275 dividend. This is a boost from Edison International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $3.31 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.20%. Edison International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 97.07%.

Edison International Company Profile

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.