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

Edison International (NYSE:EIX) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders bought 2,597 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 192% compared to the average daily volume of 888 put options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Edison International news, VP Adam S. Umanoff sold 25,619 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The stock was 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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Edison International

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in shares of Edison International in the third quarter valued at $1,387,000. Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of Edison International by 76.3% in the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 446,637 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,073,000 after buying an additional 193,307 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Edison International by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 309,716 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,973,000 after buying an additional 15,181 shares during the last quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Edison International during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,291,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of Edison International by 5.3% in the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. 88.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EIX has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Edison International from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Edison International from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Barclays lifted their target price on Edison International from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on Edison International in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Edison International has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.75.

Edison International Stock Performance

EIX opened at $82.80 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $32.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.28, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a fifty day moving average of $84.67 and a 200 day moving average of $80.99. Edison International has a fifty-two week low of $63.15 and a fifty-two week high of $88.77.

Edison International (NYSE:EIX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.13. Edison International had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 8.52%. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.38 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Edison International will post 4.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Edison International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 7th were paid a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 7th. Edison International’s payout ratio is 91.50%.

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.