Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Put Options on Edison International (NYSE:EIX)

Edison International (NYSE:EIX) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors purchased 8,183 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 837% compared to the typical volume of 873 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on EIX. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Edison International from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Bank of America began coverage on Edison International in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Edison International from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Argus lifted their price target on Edison International from $82.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.00.

Edison International Stock Performance

EIX traded down $5.56 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $71.82. The stock had a trading volume of 3,105,971 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,003,280. The firm has a market cap of $27.81 billion, a PE ratio of 21.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. Edison International has a 12 month low of $63.15 and a 12 month high of $88.77. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.91.

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

Edison International Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.8275 per share. This is a boost from Edison International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. This represents a $3.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 7th. Edison International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 97.07%.

Insider Activity at Edison International

In other news, VP Adam S. Umanoff sold 25,619 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Edison International by 22.6% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 18,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,513,000 after buying an additional 3,495 shares during the period. Pensionfund Sabic increased its position in shares of Edison International by 30.6% during the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 19,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,533,000 after purchasing an additional 4,500 shares during the period. Centre Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Edison International by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Centre Asset Management LLC now owns 2,656 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Edison International by 30.8% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 803 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Edison International by 171.5% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 448 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. 88.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.