Edison International Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:EIX)

Edison International (NYSE:EIX) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders bought 9,339 call options on the company. This is an increase of 49% compared to the average daily volume of 6,264 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Edison International

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EIX. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in shares of Edison International by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 523,433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,791,000 after buying an additional 16,614 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Edison International during the fourth quarter worth approximately $235,000. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Edison International by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 61,342 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,898,000 after purchasing an additional 11,764 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc increased its holdings in shares of Edison International by 19.5% in the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,695,182 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $134,335,000 after purchasing an additional 276,656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Edison International by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,416,770 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $192,955,000 after purchasing an additional 76,654 shares during the last quarter. 88.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Edison International Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of EIX stock opened at $59.92 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.97. Edison International has a twelve month low of $49.06 and a twelve month high of $88.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company has a market capitalization of $23.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.57, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.87.

Edison International (NYSE:EIX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $17.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. Edison International had a net margin of 8.52% and a return on equity of 13.17%. As a group, research analysts predict that Edison International will post 4.95 EPS for the current year.

Edison International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be issued a $0.8275 dividend. This represents a $3.31 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.52%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. Edison International’s payout ratio is 100.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EIX has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group raised shares of Edison International from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Edison International from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Guggenheim downgraded Edison International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Edison International from $94.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $72.00 target price on shares of Edison International in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $76.82.

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.