Edison International (NYSE:EIX) Upgraded at Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of Edison International (NYSE:EIX) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $84.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock, down from their previous target price of $91.00.

Several other analysts have also commented on EIX. Bank of America assumed coverage on Edison International in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Edison International in a report on Thursday, November 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $93.00 target price for the company. Argus increased their price target on shares of Edison International from $82.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Edison International from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Edison International from $96.00 to $87.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Edison International presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.00.

Edison International Stock Performance

EIX opened at $79.80 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $82.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.89 billion, a PE ratio of 23.40, 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.

Edison International (NYSE:EIX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.13. Edison International had a net margin of 8.52% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The company had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Edison International will post 4.94 EPS for the current year.

Edison International Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.8275 per share. This is a positive change from Edison International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. This represents a $3.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.15%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 7th. Edison International’s payout ratio is 97.07%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Adam S. Umanoff sold 25,619 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.05, for a total transaction of $2,127,657.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.03% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Edison International

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EIX. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Edison International by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,549,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,834,774,000 after buying an additional 224,337 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Edison International by 8.7% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Edison International by 2.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 210,461 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Edison International by 0.5% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,015,988 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $360,198,000 after purchasing an additional 24,834 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Edison International by 1.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,864,399 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $277,503,000 after purchasing an additional 67,089 shares during 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.