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

Edison International (NYSE:EIX - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 6,480 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 156% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,531 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Edison International 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 value of $2,127,657.95. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EIX. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Edison International in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $703,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Edison International in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Choreo LLC bought a new position in Edison International in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $402,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in Edison International by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 74,918 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,319,000 after buying an additional 1,322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in Edison International by 87.9% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,326 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $239,000 after buying an additional 1,556 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.95% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EIX has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Edison International from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Edison International from $84.00 to $76.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Edison International from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $56.50 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group reduced their target price 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Edison International from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $84.96.

Edison International Price Performance

EIX traded up $2.88 on Wednesday, hitting $61.31. 10,966,807 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,985,163. Edison International has a 12 month low of $55.27 and a 12 month high of $88.77. The business has a 50-day moving average of $80.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.98, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.93.

Edison International (NYSE:EIX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.01 billion. Edison International had a net margin of 8.52% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.38 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Edison International will post 4.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Edison International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be issued a $0.8275 dividend. This represents a $3.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.40%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 7th. This is a positive change from Edison International's previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. Edison International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 97.07%.

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.