Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Edison International (NYSE:EIX)

Edison International (NYSE:EIX) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders bought 32,509 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 611% compared to the average daily volume of 4,573 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Edison International

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Edison International by 0.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,549,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,834,774,000 after purchasing an additional 224,337 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Edison International by 8.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,800,874 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,898,638,000 after acquiring an additional 1,741,835 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Edison International by 2.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,620,520 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $835,142,000 after acquiring an additional 210,461 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Edison International by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,620,122 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $209,191,000 after acquiring an additional 32,391 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Edison International by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,416,770 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $192,955,000 after acquiring an additional 76,654 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Edison International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $56.50 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Edison International from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Edison International in a report on Thursday, November 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $93.00 price target for the company. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Edison International from $76.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Edison International from $87.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.88.

Edison International Stock Performance

Shares of EIX stock opened at $51.00 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $19.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.90. 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 52 week low of $50.98 and a 52 week high of $88.77. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $72.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $79.81.

Edison International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were paid a $0.8275 dividend. This is an increase from Edison International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $3.31 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.49%. Edison International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.