Edison International (NYSE:EIX) Upgraded at LADENBURG THALM/SH SH

LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Edison International (NYSE:EIX) from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $56.50 price target on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on EIX. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Edison International from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Edison International from $84.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Edison International from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Edison International from $96.00 to $87.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Edison International from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.58.

Edison International Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE EIX opened at $62.72 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.34. Edison International has a 52 week low of $55.27 and a 52 week high of $88.77. The stock has a market cap of $24.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.39, a PEG ratio of 1.34 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) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.13. Edison International had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 8.52%. The company had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.01 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Edison International will post 4.94 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be paid a $0.8275 dividend. This is a boost from Edison International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $3.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.28%. 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 that occurred 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Edison International

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Edison International during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its stake in shares of Edison International by 0.8% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 29,911 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Edison International during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Edison International in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Edison International by 125.0% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 351 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. 88.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.