KBC Group NV Boosts Position in Edison International (NYSE:EIX)

KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Edison International (NYSE:EIX - Free Report) by 23.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 61,342 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 11,764 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV's holdings in Edison International were worth $4,898,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Edison International in the 4th quarter worth about $235,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in Edison International during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,387,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Edison International by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 195,788 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $15,632,000 after buying an additional 10,863 shares during the last quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp raised its holdings in Edison International by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 80,908 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,460,000 after purchasing an additional 5,011 shares during the period. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Edison International by 54.7% in the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 27,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,172,000 after acquiring an additional 9,612 shares in the last quarter. 88.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EIX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Edison International from $76.00 to $67.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Edison International from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $56.50 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Edison International from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Edison International from $87.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Guggenheim cut shares of Edison International from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Edison International has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $82.88.

Edison International Stock Down 0.1 %

EIX stock traded down $0.08 on Friday, hitting $53.98. 12,046,671 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,367,357. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $74.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $80.37. Edison International has a 12-month low of $53.26 and a 12-month high of $88.77. The stock has a market cap of $20.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.93. 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 (NYSE:EIX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.01 billion. Edison International had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 8.52%. The company's revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Edison International will post 4.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Edison International Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 represents a $3.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.13%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 7th. This is an increase from Edison International's previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. Edison International's payout ratio is presently 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.