Aberdeen Group plc Cuts Stock Position in Edison International (NYSE:EIX)

Aberdeen Group plc cut its stake in shares of Edison International (NYSE:EIX) by 68.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 534,014 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,161,168 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned 0.14% of Edison International worth $31,379,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Edison International by 111.6% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,663,427 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $333,689,000 after acquiring an additional 2,987,318 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Edison International by 53.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,757,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $459,642,000 after purchasing an additional 2,016,017 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Edison International by 149.3% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,793,795 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $223,057,000 after purchasing an additional 1,673,204 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its position in Edison International by 1,946.0% during the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,255,449 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $73,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,194,088 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Edison International during the 1st quarter worth approximately $61,916,000. 88.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Edison International from $75.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Barclays raised their target price on Edison International from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Edison International from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Edison International from $52.00 to $51.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Edison International in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.21.

Edison International Price Performance

EIX stock opened at $55.51 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $51.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.21. The firm has a market cap of $21.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.15, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.87. Edison International has a 1 year low of $47.73 and a 1 year high of $88.77.

Edison International (NYSE:EIX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $4.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.52 billion. Edison International had a return on equity of 11.99% and a net margin of 16.00%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Edison International will post 4.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Edison International Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 7th were paid a dividend of $0.8275 per share. This represents a $3.31 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 7th. Edison International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.60%.

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.